awake zion

There has been a recent study of relating Jews to Rastafarians. Rasta is a religious movement that came out of Jamaica. Rastafarians, worship Haile Selassie I as their God. They also grow their hair out in dreadlocks and use marijuana for religious purposes. Although Rasta values seem like they have absolutely no relevance to Jewish culture, the two are actually very similar. Both Rastas and Jews refer to the Old Testament and follow some of the same forefathers. Truth and love are both values exhibited by both religions. Also, both speak of Zion frequently. Since they are both identifying with the same kinds of things, they can be indentifying with each other. Awake Zion is a documentary relating Rastafarians to Jews. Music created by both religions is very similar as well. Matisyahu, a Jewish reggae artist, is used as an example in the documentary in comparing the two music styles.

I being Jewish, find this fascinating. As an avid listener of reggae music, I often understand that there is some connection. One of my favorite reggae groups, Israel Vibration, is made up of two Rastas who sing about Judaism mostly. They include references to Zion and Moses splitting the sea to free his people. I feel a sense of urgency to see this documentary. I viewed a trailer on the actual Awake Zion website so I have a basic understanding of what it’s about. As a family, we were going to take a vacation this winter to Jamaica but things have changed. It has become extremely dangerous for tourists to wonder off into town. Muggings occur frequently and the drug scene is big. So now we’re going to the Dominican Republic instead. Since this is the first I’ve heard of this theory, I will definitely look into it further.