I'm not claiming or doubting the veracity of this statement. Maybe "Josh" did make a reference to JC in the CD cover, maybe not. Was it assur/forbidden if he did so? Maybe, maybe not. This is not the point.

One has to wonder what "Rabbi Weinstein"'s objective was with writing this flyer. Did he intend to incite the charedi public in a fit of rage against perhaps the only successful (Y-LOVE excluded) Jewish crossover artist to date? What could "the Rav" want to accomplish here?

To me, this strikes me as the attempt of a desperate person to forbid Matisyahu's music completely. In absence of any actual inappropriate musical content, just find something -- anything -- to render the artist a source of impurity.

Matisyahu has unfortunately been subject to unheard-of scrutiny since first he decided to open his mouth to sing for Hashem -- first it was accusations that he was really Snow, the ill-fated reggae artist of "Informer" fame. Then it was objectionable videos, and then it was accusations of drug use, and now it's this. When it comes from haters trying to make a name for themselves in the reggae world, it's one thing -- it's understandable and a lamentable by-product of success.

But when it comes from the religious world, especially when it's a world you weren't born into and that you joined out of a love for its principles and ideals, it hurts infinitely more. Should a kid growing up in the shtetl of Williamsburg listen to reggae l'chatchila? Probably not. But without Matisyahu, who should he listen to, Damian Marley?

This past Chanukah, I had a conversation with a religious rebbitzen (wife of a rabbi) in Flatbush. I was discussing the Chanukah video I had found and featured on my Myspace blog. I was impressed by the choir director's choice of a contemporary Hebrew song to teach his non-Jewish class, and I was impressed by the childrens' enunciation in Hebrew. The rebbitzen looked at me quizzically and asked almost suspiciously, "Why would a group of [non-Jewish] children want to sing a song in Hebrew for Chanukah?" I said adamantly without missing a breath, "To show peace and love and unity!" She said "Aha..." and changed the subject.

Perhaps there is a phobia that even positive one-way (sharing Judaism with others, and not being shared with) contact with the non-Jewish world will lead to assimilation or anti-Semitism.

But whatever it is, it's horribly counterproductive.

We have a growing "XO" (ex-Orthodox) movement, formed largely of people fed up with rabbis or families which were unsupportive or intolerant of differences -- and now is the time to legislate musical conformity? R' Kamenetzky (I believe) already said that there is no da'as Torah with music, and my rav, Rav Avraham Ga'on, has already said that music's permissibility is determined by the emotions it evokes. Fans of Matisyahu's music never cease to say how positive it makes them feel, how "needed" his voice is in the world right now, how uplifting the shows are. It's making people feel closer to Hashem, and this "Rabbi" feels the need to assur it.

"Rabbi Weinstein" -- showing his own ethnomusicological ignorance by calling reggae a form of music "originated in African-American churches" -- is attempting to make an artist's entire repertoire assur for the charedi world. But let's be realistic. Mordechai Ben David was also criticized years ago when he began to use innovative techniques in his music, and now he's already considered a traditional choice for every simcha. Without a doubt, mark my words, this entire argument is going to seem passe one day, even in Boro Park.

Does anyone even know who this "Rabbi Weinstein" is, anyway?

All charedim who hold true to the word of Torah, like R' Chaim Ozer, have one over-reaching purpose in mind, the good of Klal Yisra'el (and by extension the world), both physically and spiritually. So I wonder what Rabbi Weinstein expects when he dies at the end of 120: does he expect to hear a bas kol (Heavenly voice) saying, "My son, by leveling accusations against Matisyahu in the Orthodox world, you have done a wonderful good for My world?"

If this really is assur because of the sin of avoda zara, then this can be no worse than Marilyn Manson. His "Holywood" CD was rendered assur/forbidden because of his blasphemous use of the Holy Tetragrammaton (G-d's 4-Letter Name). The cover had to be thrown out and the Divine Name disposed of; the CD was forbidden. His music was not, and certainly his entire style of music was not (and this was by the rabbis in Ohr Somayach yeshiva in 2000).

And that was from the man who said he wouldn't be a slave to G-d (ch"v).

Should we treat more harshly the man who pleads with his Creator, Hashem Elokai yagi'ha chashki (Hashem, My G-d, may He enlighten my darkness)?

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Matisyahu fan. But I highly doubt they'll be playing his music in Gehinnom.