New York – What do reggae star Matisyahu, the Israeli government, and fur have in common? The compassionate Jewish singer, who recently became vegan because of his disgust toward factory farms and to strictly adhere to Torah principles, has written June 18 a heartfelt letter on behalf of PETA to Israeli government leaders urging them to support a bill currently in the Knesset that would ban the fur trade in Israel.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
If the bill passes, Israel would be the first country to prohibit the production, sale, and importation of all fur products (with the exception of shtreimels, traditional fur hats worn by some Hasidim).
Matisyahu rightfully points out that stomping, beating, and bludgeoning animals violates the fundamental principle of tza’ar ba’alei chayim, which forbids gratuitous cruelty to animals.
In light of our recent undercover video about Chinese fur farms, it’s time right now for governments and the public to turn their backs on fur.
there it is all over again…for alittle attention…. PETA was the problem makes in agri and so much more to align with them! go understand! like Nat Lewin said th other night, we are the ones that make the problems for ourself! Yidden Wake up.
does he also agree with them on what they had to say about his fellow lubavitcher’s sentencing??
” at least now sholom rubashkin wont be able to harm animals for 27 years?”…what a sick organization!!!
p.s. someone please inform mattisyahu that teffilin are made from leather and it may be causing the animals harm, so he could probably get a heter not to wear them!
I don’t think Israelis wear fur coats. It never gets cold enough.
Go Matisyahu! It’s a shandah that people in Israel, the holyland, support animal cruelty by buying fur. And streimels should be banned also – how can it be called tradition to wear a hat if the animal its made from was tortured to be killed? That’s not the Torah way nor is it a “tradition” to be proud of.
how culd he join such a vicsus orgenization?
how is this different from other animal products we use for shoes, clothing food, etc
And he has credibility why exactly? I thought that he was somehow above the whole celebrity mouth flapping because he is kind of frum…It always looks terribly stupid when a celebrity speaks out on these kinds of issues.
Regardless of whether there is tzaaras baalei chaim involved, Matisyahu has no business getting involved with PETA. They are not about animal cruelty; they are a religion that equates humans to animals. They represent the generation of Noach who were destroyed in the flood. They represent the reason H’ told Noach to eat animals after the flood, which was to show that we should have a higher purpose than animals. What is next Matisyahu? Will you join those who want to outlaw Schechita? You are being mafrish yourself from the tzibur for personal financial gain. Be warned!
well after what peta did to the rubashkins, how could matisyahu get on their bandwagon and support anything they stand for??? Nobody should support such a despicable organization that harmed the rubashkins,made up lies about them, harmed the image of shechita etc.
PETA is an institution that has consistantly fought against Jews. They assited the government in prosecuting Rubashkin. They continue to promote videos attacking Shecita. (The videos are misleading). PETA wrote a letter to Arafat that he should not use animals in suicide bombings. (Without objecting to sucicide bombings if done by “Humans”. There is nothing wrong with objecting to tza’ar ba’alei chayim.
However, one should not be connected to an orginization which has a track record of fighting against the interests of Jews.
Oh great, this story will bring out all the usual mishegoyim who post here, blasting Matisyahu, PETA, Obama, Socialists and Muslims. Seriously, it’s like you people have a set script for reacting to news stories…
What nonsense! PETA and Torah don’t go together. What does he think PETA would say to a bais hamikdash, that should be rebuilt in our days, that slauters thousands of animals a day, sprays their blood, and squeezes little bidies heads off with the kohens sharp thunb nail?
Matthew Miller, I hope you read this. You did a big mistake aligning yourself with one of the organisations that helped harm Sholom Rubashkin. Shame on you!!!
how is banning the streymul not antisemitic?
After what I have learned about PETA I will boycott anyone involved or supporting this organization.
gantz git.
So does this fool also want to ban tefillin, mezuzot and sifrei torah because they are made out of leather and animal skin parchment?
mattisyahu lol !!!! why does anyone care what his opinion is?
Now I know why Mathew is not my daas torah.
I can’t believe that he’s working on behalf of an organization that campaigned all over Europe with the slogan “Meat – the holocaust on your plate.”
They also made a TV spot in German that was in black and white and showed train wagons and evoked clear holocaust pictures, just to show a second later that it’s not Jews but animals who are sent towards their death.
PETA is a disgusting organization, and now they can hide behind their Jewish activist the next time someone is accusing them of disrespect towards the victims of the Shoah for likening their suffering with that of Chajes.
Nebach …nebach…
well we should ban rock concerts because they all act like animals
if there is animal cruelty involved in manufactereing steimlach then this certainly needs to be rectified but to attempt to do so with ys peta is disgusting.
To Matisyahu – I am very saddened you have aligned yourself with a sheker and anti-semitic organization. I personally will never listen to your music again.
To #15 : A boycott is an excellent Idea!
Rabbi Nosson Slifkin wrote a book titled Man and Beast in which he handles sugyas such as these. You have never heard of this book because it isn’t heretical or controversial, and (therefore) was never banned. It is, however, very informative about the halachic and hashkafic pros and cons of shtreimlach–Ayein Shum.
Matisyahu is a thought leader among the younger and more progressive elements of the Charedi kehillah and is highly respected by the most chashuve rabbonim. If he says there is no need for real fur for shtreimlach, we should follow his psak.
Matisyahu speaks the truth, and the sheep can’t handle it. The fact is that almost all
“kosher” meat is raised on factory CAFO’s which have institutionalized animal cruelty a.k.a Tzaar Baalei Chayim from birth to slaughter. Additionally, fur farming, especially in Asia, is extremely cruel towards animals with abundant evidence readily available on Youtube.
But of course you clowns don’t attack Matisyahu’s argument with logic and counterclaims, because you don’t have any. Instead you resort to attacking him for his unholy alliance to PETA, as if somehow that is supposed to delegitimize the central claim. It does not. Turning the other way and ignoring basic tenants of the Torah while lambasting anyone who dares to point out the cognitive dissonance on display doesn’t make you look smart, it only makes you look ignorant and hypocritical.
A stopped clock is correct twice a day, and this is one of those minutes where PETA is such a stopped clock.
The fur imports should be banned so that some frum Jews can open fur farms in Israel that treat animals in accordance with halachah.
hit him where it hurts– the pocket book
I would love to see a psychological study of personality profiles for the wackos that push the PETA agenda. I have studied a bit about this organization, and they are hypocritical besides blatantly dishonest. They stand for cynicism and bringing people down, not their stated mission of protecting animals. Go ahead and search the web – there’s more than enough documentation on this.
Now, the rebel Matisyahu, who defaces the name of HKB”H and kedusha with his abominable music, shaming the words of tehilim and siddur with goyishe music, is going to tell us about moral values. How low we have fallen that we give this nut job a platform. Go ahead, stay vegan – and don’t dare eat from the Korbon Pesach when Moshiach comes. Exclude yourself from Klal Yisroel.
I don’t believe I have spent so many words protesting the public ramblings of a popular nobody.
matisyahu be careful, in the times of the Bais Hamikdash the animals were bought as karbonos and the skins were used as well. hashem created animals for us to use! be careful with who you assosciate yourself with.
Apparently he’s a liberal. I mean as a baal tshuvah, shouldn’t he have the facts straight what Judaism says about fur, shechita….? Animals were created for many reasons. One of the biggest one is so we can eat them!!!!! Celebrities should stick to what they do best- sing!
Please know:
The reason G-d created animals was for the purpose of eating. If animals already killed for food are being used for fur and/or parchment, what is wrong with killing them?
I think he has lost it now!!
Has anyone here seen the video that Mattisyahu links to in his letter? I just did and I’m sick. That’s all I can say.
He’s a farshunkene bum!!
To even associate onesself with PETA, even on a so-called just cause, after what they did?! After what they represent?! is nothing less than disgraceful!!
Let that reggase bum, that meshuggenenr piece of garbage, should go ask his rav if he is allowed to do what he does and he should dig a hole and stuff him and his corrupt music in it.
Jerk!
so we should ban sifrei torahs, tefillin, and mezuzos because of animal cruelty? shame on the people who think this
The guy ran out of Lubavitch subjects to sing about so he went to Breslov. he is out of that material so now he chooses an even more controvertial one. He is a pathetic person who is only frum or acts that way to get attention. Amazing he becomes a chosid and says a mamar before he sings then he decides lubavitch is not for him so he changes his costume and grows long Payot. Not that nobody realy went for that he put on a PETA lab coat. Mazal Tov Matisyahu. You showed your true colors. Its time to go back to your Ganja Smoking Reggae friends and Leave us alone. BTW since when do you know better then all the rabbonim. Right I forgot you have only been frum for how many years??????
till now i said leave him alone now i see he is NUTS. one yid talking about another in public is wrong.
In regards to Peta all we can say is three words, Y’mach Shemom V’zichrom
Matisyahu, I just want to thank you for leaving Lubavitch before aligning yourself with peta.
Those behaimos (pun intended) ruined SMR, his family, an entire town, and one of the greatest yiddishe companies in history. THIS is the group he’s partnering with?
Wow these comments really disgust me. To all the negative commenter’s how many of you have actually met the guy. How many have you brought thousands of people back to Torah, and help people establish a relationship with G-d. I could tell you not as much as Matisyahu! You have no Idea what you’re saying or what the hell you’re talking about. So maybe he made a mistake, maybe it’s his beliefs. You guys have the audacity to degrade him like that. It really sickens me, and it’s a big turn off to see frum people talk like this about someone else. Now I know I’m going to get a lot of negative comments, and people are going to start bashing me, so keep it coming. I don’t expect anything else after seeing these comments. One person said he shouldn’t even be apart of klal Yisroel. The rebbe says differently a Jew is a Jew no Matter what. Now I know why people go off the derech, and why I get turned off from Yideshkeit from time to tome. It’s people like the commenter’s posted on this site, and other’s. Hashem Yerachem on everybody including myself.
Who says it is cruel to use animal fur? If the animals are killed humanely, it is not cruel. Animals are here to serve man. We may not be cruel to them, but, we may use them for food and clothes and that includes shtreimels, coats, shoes etc. Mattisyahu is just as crazy as the PETA people and his music doesn’t have a Jewish ta-am at all.
Matisyahu’s colors are beginning to show.
Listen to this lecture by Rabbi Mordechai Becher, it will answer why we can use animals for our needs – http://www.simpletoremember.com/media/a/becher-rmb-animal-rights/
nareshkeit from a nar
what if people said that we should stop smoking weed because it unnecessarilly kills the weed. then what would mattis and us do?
Thank you Matt for siding with peta YEMACH SH’MOM V’ZICHROM. I hope you realize the damage you do as a “public figure” and your supprt of this organization full of r’shoyim. Perhaps if you had a decent morah ho’raa you would have asked if this is something for you to get involved in but alas your liberal stage boy mentality wont let you do that either.
Look at that menuval. Whatever little bit of good he did is overshadowed by this rotten attempt to hurt the parnosso of Yidden. I met him and he is no dugma chaya to put it normally. Not all there is a complement.
He is a commercial act who will do anything for the 15 mins of fame that is now on minute 13.