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Matisyahu Says Oct. 7 Hamas Attack Made Him Reconnect With His Jewish Identity
Matisyahu speaking at The Algemeiner’s 11th annual “J100” Gala in New York City on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: FotoBuddy
Jewish singer-songwriter Matisyahu spoke at The Algemeiner‘s 11th annual “J100” Gala in New York City on Tuesday night about reexamining his Jewish identity and faith following the deadly Hamas-orchestrated terrorist attack in Israel that took place on Oct. 7, 2023.
The “Fireproof” singer, whose real name is Matthew Miller, was honored with the “Warrior For Truth” award at The Algemeiner gala for his avid support for Israel and the Jewish people. He accepted the award on stage while wearing a pin with a yellow ribbon, which calls for the immediate return of the remaining 98 hostages who were abducted from Israel on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists.
In his acceptance speech, he began by talking about being in Las Vegas, preparing to perform at a reggae festival, when news broke of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel. He told the audience at the gala that shortly afterward, when he walked on stage to perform, “I immediately felt a gut response. One that I’m familiar but hadn’t felt in a long time. And the words of my songs began to morph into a new context.”
“‘Lord raise me up’ was no longer about God pulling us up from our limitations, but literally about God raising up our hostages from the tunnels,” he explained. “‘Warrior fighting for your soul’ was now speaking literally to an entire generation of Israelis fighting to find and return our children to safety. I began, without hesitation or question, to step into something that I know and trust deeper than anything else in my life.”
“There is an holy fire that burns forever,” he added. “A fire that many had tried to stomp out had miraculously survived as a testament to the Jewish people; my people.” He also called the land of Israel and its people “the shining star built out of the ashes of thousands of years of persecution.”
Matisyahu said that since his teenage years, his Jewish identity has been “at the center of my journey.” He added: “As I stepped further into self-discovery, deeper into the Jewish religion and being a Jew became the core of my existence.”
The “Jerusalem” singer explained how that changed when he went on a religious and musical transformation years later – moving away from his Hassidic upbringing and lifestyle, and making changes to his appearance like shaving his beard and no longer sporting a yarmulke. “My love for Israel and Judaism was always there, but burning at a lower flame,” he noted.
The Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack again changed his outlook on and connection to his Jewish identity, he said.
“After Oct. 7 I believe there is a paradigm shift. I was immediately forced to ask myself the question of what it means to be Jewish again and how important it is to be,” he noted. “What does it mean to be a Jew now after Oct 7? Prior, the main division, seemingly, religion. But it seems that we elevated above that in a need to find each other. We are forced again to look inward. To ask ourself: What does it mean to be a Jew? What does Israel have to do with being a Jew? If you don’t find the answer, the rest of the world will gladly find it for you and whatever story they choose to make up — it’s not our story. The story of Moses and the Jews.”
“May we continue to look within to find the answers we hold and may the shinning star of Israel blaze forever,” he concluded.
The post Matisyahu Says Oct. 7 Hamas Attack Made Him Reconnect With His Jewish Identity first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.