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Yehuda Katz

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Yehuda Katz offers workshops and seminars in Hebrew and English for A.M.I. on themes such as "The Power of Music and Melody," "Music Composition: Roots and Influences," "Music and Spirituality: An Individual and Communal Journey," and "Jewish Folk Culture - Tracing Roots from Temple Times to the Modern Era."

He is the founder and leader of the popular Israeli Jewish rock and soul band Reva L'sheva (http://www.revalsheva.com/), which has performed hundreds of worldwide concerts. Moreover, as a solo artist, Yehudah has been blessed with the opportunity to touch many lives with his own unique approach to Jewish spirituality, music and story. Reb Shlomo Carlebach was a critical influence, given the 23 years during which Katz watched the master open hearts through music, story and personal connection. On his own quest to connect with Jews in the four corners of the earth, he has performed and taught in communities large and small in the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, the former Soviet Union, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Croatia, The Czech Republic and Africa.

Katz also brings to his Jewish educational projects his M.A. in guidance and counseling, and coursework completed towards a doctorate in clinical psychology. He served the community for 12 years in the field of informal Jewish education, working for the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Jewish Community Centers Association, and the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, specializing as a pioneer in outreach to unaffiliated young people.

Click here to watch a live Interview with Yehudah Katz.

Josh Laufer

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Josh Laufer is a performing guitarist singer and songwriter. Raised in Ann Arbor Michigan, he came to Israel in 1981 at age 18 as a spiritual seeker seeking Jewish spiritual knowledge and experience. He then studied with and accompanied Reb Shlomo Carlebach and also ran a center for prayer, study, music and meditation.

In 1986 Josh began a career working with children as a Jewish studies teacher, music director and prayer leader in Jewish Hebrew day and high school setting in Ann Arbor.

Returning to Israel in 1996, he worked at the Keshet Elementary and High School, where he was known as a teacher who had a mesmerizing touch in getting kids to connect with their Yiddishkeit through prayer and song.With the family's move to Pardes Hana, he became a specialist at Tali schools (Jewish education for a pluralistic society) all over the country. Josh composes moving and rhythmic melodies that poetically express the deep layers of meaning contained in midrashic teaching. In Josh’s unique workshop in any one - regardless of age or musical background - or any size group (up to 250 so far) composes a new song!

Mark Lazar

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Mark Lazar has been involved in informal Jewish education for more than 30 years. Before making aliyah in 1993, he had been affiliated with Camp Ramah in California, the University of Judaism and the Bureau of Jewish Education in Los Angeles, as well as serving as educational and youth director of Temple Beth Haverim.

In Israel he has specialized in leadership training and informal education for the Jewish Agency, the Joint Distribution Committee and numerous youth groups and summer programs. Mark has guided in Israel and Poland and also writes informal educational materials.

Roee Levi

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Roee Levi was born in Israel, and at the age of 21 travelled extensively in Europe and the Far East.  Upon returning to Israel, Roee started working as a nature instructor in kindergartens around Tel Aviv while attending university.  At the same time, Roee started the popular band "Shotey Hanevuaa", which means “ The Fools of Prophecy”.  In addition to performing professionally, he enjoys teaching guitar and writing songs.

Nachshon David Carmi

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Nachshon David Carmi is a gifted educator and teacher who has been working in Jewish education for 22 years.  He loves to combine his musical roots in the Zionist labor movement with Hassidic niggunim and his Moroccan heritage.  

Nitzan Chen Razel

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Nitzan Chen Razel studied violin and composition at the Rubin Music Academy in Jerusalem, and currently teaches at a High School for the Arts & Sciences. He is also a member of the "Joseph and One" Choir.

He has performed with numerous artists including "The Natural Alternative" and Ehud Banai.

Eliyahu Ben Ze'ev Alpern

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Eliyahu Ben Ze'ev Alpern is a Chicago-born artist living in the Upper Galilee.  Specializing in 360-degree panoramic images of Israel, Eliyahu's work offers unique, thought-provoking visual and conceptual perspectives on Israel, not naturally perceived by the human eye. He has exhibited widely at galleries in the United States and Israel. Past clients include Birthright Israel, United Jewish Communities, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Mount Hermon Ski Resort, and Columbia University Hillel. His art is on display at the Eliyahu Ben Ze'ev Gallery in Tzfat's Artists' Quarter and at www.EliyahuBenZev.com. A professional tour guide, he combined guiding and photography to create the first online virtual tour of Israel, www.IsraelVR.net.  He also runs Golem Productions (www.GolemProductions.com), a company that produces rich media and content for both online and offline projects.

Yitzhak Attias

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Yitzhak Attias is a percussionist and songwriter from Gibraltar, and brings African, Latin, and Flamenco influences into his music, which mingle with the Sephardic traditions on which he was raised. He has played professionally for over twenty years and has recorded with renowned artists including Shlomo Carlebach, Yehudah Glantz, Reva l'Sheva, Chaim David, Avraham Rosenblum, Moshe Yess and Mordechai Ben David.

In keeping with the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Yitzchak often visits the Jerusalem forest to play music, pray and meditate. His A.M.I. workshop, "Sounds of the Jerusalem Forest," uses percussive and vocal techniques to simulate the forest sounds, as students are transported on a contemplative musical journey to the Promised Land of the soul.

Yitzhak lives with his wife and children in Jerusalem where he works in music and as a graphic artist. See his work at www.yitzhakattias.com

Shoshana Gugenheim

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Shoshana Gugenheim, MEd is a Torah scribe, community artist and educator. She engages the arts as a means for transformation and social change. Shoshana is one of 5 women in the world working as a Torah scribe.

She draws from her background in Jewish studies, multi-cultural and informal education, ecology and counseling as she implements the arts across boundaries in diverse environments. Her workshops and residencies incorporate visual art, When she is not in the studio, Shoshana can be found hiking in the desert, dancing contact improvisation, practicing yoga, cooking her favorite soup or drinking chai in the hammock.

Shoshana resides with her husband, writer Avraham Tertes, on a Moshav in Emek HaElah, a short distance from Jerusalem.

Eldad Levi

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Eldad Levi was born in Israel, a descendent of the musical Levites on both sides for generations. Early in his life journey, he took an interest in various arts, including Tai Chi.  He participated in a three-year course in Jewish medicine according to the teachings of Maimonides, creating leather objects and jewelry, and healing with gems.

Eldad's search led to him to music, including an intensive study of ancient musical sources dating back to the Temple period. Eldad plays instruments dating from the Temple period: the harmonium (a biblical accordion), ancient hand drums, and the Persian Santur.  With his music, Eldad seeks a way to connect with audiences and of bringing people together by reaching them at the level of their soul.  Over the past few years, Eldad has taken an active part in many projects that use music to foster communication and unity, and plays in a band,  Azamer B'Shvachin.
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From the workshop with Josh I will remember:

“The joy of life of the educator”
Student from the Eyn Prat pre-army program

From the workshop with Yehudah I will remember:

“Singing and connotations of the holiday”
from the Alon midrasha

From the workshop with Yehudah I will remember:

“The energy and the songs” from the Alon midrasha

From the workshop with Nachshon David I will remember:

“The advises of the lecturer. I will try to implement them” from the Telem pre-army program