Does he belong in "Paradise"?

Matisyahu Miller has been getting lots of press these days, especially on Mentalblog. One comment that came from our friend Schneur hit home somewhat for me.

He questioned whether or not the Rebbe would've approved of what Matisyahu is doing, however good his intentions may be. He compares him to the late Shlomo Carlebach who asked the Rebbe if he can perform for mixed crowds, and the answer was NO. According to what Shlomo said they then parted ways, the Rebbe and Shlomo did. It seems a little too simplistic, that Shlomo only left for that reason, but that's a little beside the point. The point remains, he says, that the Rebbe was totally against the idea of a singer performing for mixed audiences.

Schneur continues: (paraphrasing)
Shlomo only sang in Loshon Kodesh (he did speak and sing in English, but his compositions were for the most part in Loshon HaKodesh) and sang in a very mellow way,no jumping or hip-hopping, yet he was forever banished from Chabad. Our friend Matisyahu goes further than any frum singer has ever gone, and then some, including performing on live TV and in nightclubs. I know all about him wearing the hat and jacket at his performances, and the sometimes removal of his glasses while performing, but what does that do? How much can a hat and jacket help for his own observance, and how does that change the content of his music?

I have been told and made to understand that there is one clear-cut difference here, namely that of Marriage. Shlomo was a Bochur and remained either a bachelor or single for most of his singing career. He also encouraged sing-along, especially the women, and mingled heavily with the attendees of his concerts. MM is married and does have somewhat of a set of guidelines as far as mingling is concerned. Do the dissimilarities end there? I'm not quite sure that they don't.

If it were only him performing in out of the way clubs, וואלט געווען א האלבע צרה , but now we've got so-called Shluchim going "mit di veib" to hear him perform as a night out on the town. Every Lubavitcher has a pure "heter" now to listen to the music because "er iz an unzerer" and even sings something that sounds like "Kol BaYaar" and "Tzomoh Lecho Nafshi"! hooray!

Mistama iz er vayler bocher and asked his Mashpiyim in HaDar Hatorah if he can continue and make this his career. What they were thinking, if they did give him the OK, is beyond me.

And you thought I couldn't be objective.