Stupid HeadBorn again not-so-Kosher MC crucifies his Web site
Aviad Cohen, aka Jewish Messianic rapper Fifty Shekel has shut down his Web site. Why? A cryptic message left on his home page says only “I did the best I could with what I had but I guess ya know, oh well.” He was never universally adored when he was just a bad Jewish rapper (to say the least), but the previously teppid went ballistic when Fifty discovered Jesus after watching snuff film, The Passion of The Christ and then dedicated his career to proselytizing for his newly acquired Messianic faith. Maybe he couldn’t handle the hate and ridicule? Will the Jews be blamed for this too? While some, probably rightly so, question poor Aviad’s sanity, I’m hoping he doesn’t emulate his lord and have a, ya know, resurrection. If he does, will he be called 30 (silver) Shekels?

Whatever, bottom line, regular or messianic, he sucked both ways. I hope he gets over whatever it was that made him insane, but I’m totally not sad to see him go. Vaja con dios Aviad.

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

20 Comments

  • Well, I’m happy to be less mean if he stops with the Jesus narishkeit. But really, what can be done about his rapping? I don’t think that can be helped much. OK so maybe if he stops the Jesus crap and as a result of all the tumult and pain, somehow taps into a previously unseen vein of talent and inspitration and he starts being a better artist? Maybe then I’ll be less mean. But otherwise? He’s a Yid! he’s always welcome to spend shabbat with me and my pals. How’s that for love?

  • Interestingly, commenting on Jewschool’s post on the same subject, Mobius and lackey David Kelsey both express concern that 50 Shekel may be suicidal. While their concern is admirable (I wouldn’t wish death on anyone myself) I didn’t really get that sense from his farewell post, which seems levelheaded enough.

  • The kid’s obviously very confused. Let’s hope there’s somebody wise who comes along to help him. Where does he live? He could probably use the assistance of a sensitive and committed rabbi.

  • What midddle said. This Fiddle kiddle’s a yiddle in the middle of a riddle. Am I deranged? perhaps just a little.

    Seriously, the kid needs to attend a Jewlicious birthright trip or something.

    Shabbat shalom, to all…

  • Aviad was a frequent visitor to our neighborhood while he lived in Queens. He was interested in learning more about Yiddishkeit, although he hadn’t made the complete committment to being Orthodox, as some of the posts on various sites have said. He was a guest in our house for a shabbos meal about 2 years ago and came across as a nice jewish boy, which made him adored by many Jewish teens who hired him to entertain at their bar & bat mitzvahs.

    ck — your words in this post has the strong scent of sinous chinum. I’m surprised at how much venom you are directing at a fellow Jew (because he really is still a Jew) just a few days after all of our holy holidays. Your behavior is not bery Jewlicious.

    Aviad struggled with a variety of issues, one of which was that he was a kohain, which caused him to hesitate dating. Another issue was that he did wanted to be a successful rapper. However, he didn’t know how to do this and continue pursuing Jewish learning. He was recording an album in NYC in 2004 with some famouns, non-Jewish rap and hip-hop producers, but that deal went sour. It was probably at that time that he was exposed to, and struggled with, all of that goyishe mishagas. Being Christian, but staying Jewish, was probably a very attractive way to handle his cognitive dissonance.

    TM — LOTS of very sensitive rabbis tried to talk with Aviad, but he distanced himself from the Jewish community so well that no one knows where or how to find him. Sad.

  • Skylar, there is zero tolerance for the Jesus thing. It is not an answer. the guy is not a dope, I would n’t read too much into his ‘pain’. He is just trying on various ‘shtick’. He’ll find a NJG and will be ahrite.

  • For a proper Ladino-speaking Sephard, shouldn’t “Vaja con dios Aviad”, be “Vaja con El Dio, Aviad”… The implied plural “dios” didn’t go over well with the Jews.

  • As it seems, the 50 Shekel website is back up. And not only that, but he has just released a dance remix of Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings”. I’m not making this up.

    In hindsight, the whole thing seems like a big stunt to garner publicity. He certainly pulled one off on the Jewish blogging crowd, that’s for sure.

  • 50-shekel is a fake in many ways… half of his supposed ‘testimony’ is a fake, and he is just an opportunist looking for “love”.

  • Oh my gods. Is he singing “Wind Beneath My Wings,” or is my computer attacking me? Someone should smack this kid upside the head. (Sinat Chinam or not!) Maybe it was the rough criticism that drew him to produce crappy techno “worship” music, but another viable alternative would have been just to,, you know, not.

  • Its pretty bad, but people should be more understanding then attacking, by attacking him, he will only distance himself more, and go down a bad path

  • Why are you soooooo upset? Let it be..He’s NOT the only Christian Jew that has found Jesus!

  • Hey guys, I don’t want to make any enemies. But why wouldn’t Y’shua be the messia?

    I will admit that I’m a messianic believer. But I want to understand what orthodox jews have against Y’shua.

    I’m only sixteen, so try to spell everything out clearly. My e-mail is [email protected]

    Shalom,
    Curt