At the outset of the tour, Matisyahu visited the kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope that had been devastated by Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7, as well as the site of the Nova music festival where hundreds were killed and dozens more taken hostage that day. He also met with survivors of the massacre. It fueled him and gave even more meaning to the songs he performed. The fans, he says, picked up on that energy, too.

For Matisyahu, and no doubt for many of his fans, “everything kind of changed” on Oct. 7. And despite the growing sense of unease many American Jews feel in the wake of the attacks, and the hostility they are met with in unfamiliar places, Matisyahu’s message remains one of resolve: “Some people obviously struggle with it, but there’s some very special Jews out there and people who are fighters and have a lot of light and a lot of talent. It gives all these people an opportunity to come together and work towards a common goal. And that is a very, very powerful thing when the Jewish people come together and work towards something like that. So I feel like there is some hope and I don’t want people to just feel lost out there.”