Yona Yakobovitz – Drummer, Composer, Arranger, Band Leader – Israel

Yona Yakobovitz, a presenter at the 2018 Atara conference in Jerusalem, is Tofaah’s drummer, leader, and its founder. She composes and arranges the majority of the band’s music.

She studied drums and percussion from the age of five and played the piano from age six. After getting her degrees in music and education, she moved to Israel from Saratoga Springs, New York in 1981 to attend seminary. There, she befriended and played with other young female musicians and decided to create an outlet for religious women looking to express themselves musically. This became Tofaah, which formed that same year with an original lineup featuring Esther Leuchter (vocals), Rachel Kantorowitz (violin), Joy Shapiro (flute), Ann Rahel Silverman-Limor (guitar), Tehilla Shwab (vocals, flute), and Devora Belinky (flute).

As young seminary students, Yona and her friend Esther, a talented singer, had devoted their spare time to performing for the elderly in nursing homes, in hospitals, women’s prisons and schools. The joy and love they gave – and received in return from their audiences – inspired them to reach further and spread their message wider.

They are notable for being the first all-female Orthodox Jewish band, preceding later groups like Ashira and Bulletproof Stockings. They have released ten albums since 1984.

Tofaah have toured throughout the United States and Israel, performing at venues as diverse as women’s prisons, the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, and the court of the Belzer Rebbetzin. They have also appeared several times on Israeli radio and television.

The band plays all styles of Jewish music, from original Jewish rock-and-roll, blues and jazz band to traditional Klezmer, Ashkenazi and Sefardi favorites.

Tofaah is the subject of several award-winning documentaries and is hired by Israeli municipalities several times a year, playing to thousands of women at each event. Tofaah’s work and music are featured in the archives at Hebrew University and the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem.

The band plays a mix of blues, jazz, and rock and roll, citing as influences Joni Mitchell, Carol King, and Earth, Wind & Fire, with Yakobovitz herself citing Shlomo Carlebach, The Rabbis’ Sons, and Diaspora Yeshiva Band.