Tofa’ah – Matriarch Jewish Rock Band

This month we will be taking a look at the world of women musicians. This small but ever-growing group has some outstanding talent and one of the biggest would be drummer Yona Yakobovitz and her band Tofa’ah.

Yona was a natural, starting to take piano lessons when she was five years old and drum lessons when she was eight. She was born in Saratoga Springs, NY and her family was one of the few orthodox families in that area. Growing up, she played for audiences with her sister and, because there was no yeshiva in the area, she went to public school and played in her high school orchestra and jazz band. Her talent led her to study with big-name jazz drummers like Mel Lewis and Elvin Jones. Had she chosen a different path she would have pursued other musical opportunities. Being active in NCSY, however, and having older brothers in Yeshiva University, she had another direction to go.

In 1981 after college, Yona took a year off to study Torah in Israel where she felt right at home. She had family living here and came to realize that this was the place where all Jewish people could unite. During her year there was an evening to raise money for the wife and family of one of the members of the Diaspora Yeshiva Band and they needed someone to play drums for all the groups. Yona stepped right in. It was a reciprocal evening for Yona. She got tremendous chizuk playing for women that night and felt this was where she belonged musically. Yona also saw that there was a need for the women on the stage to express themselves and perform positive, uplifting, spiritual music. She immediately got together with some other woman musicians and formed a band. Yona named the band Tofa’ah which means phenomenon or “happening” as well as a play on the word “Tof” or drum. The band was a’happenin’ and immediately developed a big following. Maybe, the most astounding thing about Yona’s drumming is that at age 19 she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and yet through all of that she was able to continue playing and watch her band and her musical career flourish.

Yona started to write songs and to this day writes the majority of the music with Mindy Fuhrer the guitarist and lead singer of Tofa’ah. The first record came out in 1984 and it was called “The Sounds of Joyous Song”. They have just released their 8th recording called “Azamra”.

The group has nine members made up of three percussionists, drums, bass, guitar, flute, keyboards, and a backup singer although everyone in the band sings.

In the 20 plus years that Tofa’ah has been around, they have played all over Israel and the US. Tofa’ah has blazed the way for other “women-only groups” by playing Klezmer and International Music festivals but only for women. They are invited regularly by the Jerusalem Municipality to perform for the city as well as have been on TV with Dudu Fisher, Gabi Gazit and Rivka Michaeli. There was even a documentary made about Tofa’ah which was viewed at the Steve Spielberg Film Festival in Israel. Now it is shown twice a year on TV around Rosh Hashana and Pesach. Tofa’ah is also archived in Hebrew University as an example of Jewish music.

Yona and the band take their roles as Jewish women very seriously and view themselves as role models for Jewish women worldwide. The band consists of grandmothers, mothers and single women. Their band plays for women across the religious spectum and have played concerts in women’s prisons as well. They perform around twenty times a year.

Yona has written a book called “A Miracle Next Door” which details her personal story about her physical disability and those of her children. There are also stories about her band. It is inspiring, encouraging and hopeful.

Yona’s goal is to continue to write and record music and grow both on a musical and spiritual level. Her motto is “Ivdu et Hashem B’simcha” serve Hashem with happiness and she hopes her music inspires, gives joy and encourages others to reach higher levels personally and Jewishly and, of course, enables all to become one as a Jewish people.

Tofa’ah will be performing their 25th Anniversary concert at the Israel Center on Tuesday, January 30th [for women only].