Vision

Awakening Jewish Identity

Engaging the next generation through arts and culture is the most promising yet the most underutilized means of fostering Jewish identity and affiliation.

"What was so amazing... was the ability of the A.M.I. program to cut through all the denominations and to allow those who participated to get a glimpse of the power of being part of a united Jewish people... Here at Shir Tikvah, we had observant Orthodox Jews singing and dancing with our members."

- Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg, Reform / Renewal Congregation Shir Tikvah and Robert Heinrich, Chairman, A.M.I. Detroit Project

A recent study by Steven M. Cohen and Ari Kellman attests to the vital role that arts and culture play in the formation and development of a positive Jewish identity and passion for Israel. The study suggests that mainstream Jewish institutions would benefit from developing the arts as a way of engaging the next generation. Events such as classes, workshops, and performances in the arts appeal to young Jews, the study says, in part because they attract diverse crowds and feature "cultural hybridity," blending Jewish culture with other modes of expression.

This is precisely what A.M.I. offers.

The strength of the A.M.I. program is that it is entirely interactive and experiential. The benefits of this program thus surpass other educational strategies.

Presenting: Jewish Connectedness through the Arts

Artists and Musicians for Israel (A.M.I.), is a performing arts organization that began as the inspiration of Yehudah Katz (read interview). Katz, a seasoned Jewish educator, is also the driving force behind the popular Jewish "rock-and-soul" band Reva L'Sheva.

A.M.I. uses creative musical and artistic expression to strengthen Jewish identity and affiliation and commitment with Israel among Diaspora communities. The A.M.I. program operates in a community-wide framework that unites diverse types of Jews together in community-building events. [read about A.M.I.'s work in Israel]

How does it work?

Intensive Weeklong Module

During the week-long program, A.M.I. artists descend upon an entire community. Using a six-pronged approach, the team engages as many and as broad a spectrum of community members as possible, in terms of age, affiliation and interest.

Local artists and musicians as well as school children, university students and young adults participate in an intensive week of workshops, performances, and personal discussions about Israel. This generates a burst of creative community-wide expression in a dizzyingly diverse range of venues (day schools, JCCs, summer camps, high schools, college campuses, Birthright follow-up, young professional events, family programs, synagogues ... and more!) in all Jewish contexts: Reconstructionist and Orthodox, unaffiliated and Renewal, Reform and Conservative.

Workshops: The A.M.I. team visits a different local school every day. After an introductory session, the staff of nine musicians and artists provides seven concurrent workshops, 1.5 hours in length. Workshops include songwriting, ensemble performance, drumming, and artwork on a chosen theme. After the workshops, students from the musical workshops give a brief presentation of their results. All are then treated to a 30-minute Reva L'Sheva program that reaches their Jewish identity in new and different ways through song, dance or storytelling. During the program, visuals are projected onto the stage depicting students' visual art created in the workshops, and thought-provoking photomontage scenes of students in a range of Israeli settings and scenic views.

One of the student performances from the week of workshops will also be selected to appear at the Finale Concert (see below).

	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Monday	School workshops		Concert/Panel discussion
Tuesday	School workshops	Master classes	Concert/Panel discussion
Wednesday	School workshops		Concert/Panel discussion
Thursday	School workshops	Master classes
Friday	Youth rehearsal		Shabbaton
Shabbat	Shabbaton		Grand Finale

Master classes for local artists and musicians are offered on two designated afternoons.
Concerts - On three nights during the week, the musicians perform, each time hosted by a different sector of the community. The concerts create an ambience conducive to sharing views on Jewish identity. Concerts are followed by a dialogue between the artists and the audience to meet the band members and discuss life in Israel as seen through the message of the lyrics.Topics will include living in the Land, Jerusalem - the Holy City, and Jewish art and music. The concerts will also make use of engaging audio-visual material on Israel.
Shabbaton: Shabbat programming is planned for young couples and families according to the interests and needs of the community with Friday night services, dinner and an Oneg Shabbat.
Community-wide contests: During the week, A.M.I. advertises contests in the schools and in the community-at-large, with different categories in art and music. Winning works are presented at the Finale Concert.
Finale Concert: The week culminates in a grand finale event on Saturday night:
- exhibition of work by community artists
- display of winning art from the week-long contest
- sample song-making workshop
- multi-media presentations by the artists
- performance by students from selected school workshop
- Main Event: concert by Reva L'Sheva
- projected behind the band: unique visuals from Israel, student art from the workshops and visual art by A.M.I. artists

A.M.I. in Israel

A.M.I.'s Israeli workshop and concert program operates in a number of Israeli schools, and continues to grow.

The A.M.I. in Israel programming answers a parallel need to that addressed by the North American A.M.I. project.

Israeli teens are searching for expressions of the ultimate truth, inner-meaning and soul-fulfilling experiences to help make a connection with their daily experience of Judaism. They are looking for a "new" Shabbat, a "new" Torah, a true way of life.

Parallel to this sociological phenomenon, we have seen the divide between the religious and non-religious is widening. Generally, this has been a result of misunderstanding of the other, an overemphasis on political alignments and a general lack of honest dialogue.

As in its Diaspora programs, A.M.I. uses music and a truthful exchange of ideas to set an example of togetherness and understanding in an open, heart-to-heart atmosphere. In this way we hope to conveythat the people of Israel and the members of Am Yisrael have much more in common than we realize.