About Us

Holy Land Spirit is the collaborative work between Akiva Gersh and Eliezer Blumen, two musicians and storytellers whose spiritual journeys inspired them to move their lives from the United States to Israel.  Below you can find each of their bios.

Akiva Gersh

Akiva Gersh grew up outside of New York City into a very musical family.  He began playing drums at a young age and continued his studies at Brown University where he focused on jazz and African drumming.  While in college he also took up the guitar which, at first, was a means of putting music to poems that he had written.  It later developed into a more serious love for songwriting and he put out his first CD in 2004 entitled, “The Only Truth I Know”.  Music played a big part in his own spiritual journey that led him back to the traditions of his Jewish roots, specifically the songs and prayer of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

In addition to his musical work, Akiva is an educator and has been working in Jewish education for over 10 years.  He weaves history, storytelling and spirituality into his classes to give his students a feeling of connection to their ancient traditions and heritage.     

Eliezer Blumen

Eliezer was raised in the small country towns of Connecticut and New Jersey. He soaked in his father's folk guitar playing and the good tunes he always had playing on the stereo. At age 15 Eliezer was already playing guitar himself and singing in local pubs. He went on to study at Skidmore College, from which he has a degree in Musical Performance and Composition. Eliezer has been composing and recording for 25 years and has performed all over the globe. He has been influenced mostly by the blues, folk, rock, and jazz of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. He has recorded for Atlantic Records, as well as with many Israeli artists. His own release from 2000, "A New Song," on Gal-Paz Records, is a combination of these different styles. Eliezer has released two additional Hebrew albums with Gal-Paz records: "Straight to You" and "L'maan Tzion" as well as his own blues album in English: "Lazer Lloyd and The Folk Spirit Blues-Higher Ground."

It was his contract with Atlantic, over ten years ago, that brought him to New York City, where he had the opportunity to meet and perform with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. This greatly contributed to his decision to make Aliya to Israel and his re-Jew-venation, part of which involved the long hair at the back of his head moving to take up residence on his face, for a more traditional look. Through his educational, musical and spiritual activity, Eliezer actively seeks world peace and the unification of its creatures. When Eliezer is not playing and touring with Reva L'Sheva he can be seen playing in clubs around Tel Aviv and Israel with his original power trio, Yood.