Move over Matisyahu (or the previous, bearded incarnation of Matisyahu, anyway). Another haredi musical act has hit the stage, and it’s making major waves in Israel.
Arie and Gil Gat, a pair of haredi brothers from Beit Shemesh, have been getting high marks as contestants on the Israeli talent show “Rising Star,” and not just from the judges, the Associated Press reports.
The Gats have garnered more than 80 percent of the real-time votes viewers beam in from their mobile apps for their performances of “Hotel California” and “The Sound of Silence.”
While performing mainstream music on television might seem less than kosher for such observant Jews, these guys say it’s all good.
“We checked out the whole issue of participating in the show in Jewish law,” Arie said. “It’s not like we jumped into rumbling waters without checking the temperature. … From the perspective of Jewish law, there’s no problem with what we are doing.”
That said, the brothers, who don’t own TVs themselves, haven’t told their children about what they’re doing. Most of their friends and neighbors are in the dark as well.
Check out their awesome (if sort of hilariously accented) Eagles cover.
