What Drives Us

Praise and worship duo Barry and Batya Segal are among Israel’s leading inspirational recording artists and have recorded seven albums together.

Batya was born in Jerusalem after her parents, descendants of the Tribe of Levi, made Aliyah to Israel in the late 1930s from Yemen. They brought her up listening to classical, Israeli and Yemenite music, and she is celebrated as a songwriter in both English and Hebrew. Barry was born in Detroit, MI and raised on a varied musical diet, from classical to rhythm and blues. His distinctive and upbeat style, called Mizrahi, mixes traditional Middle Eastern sounds with modern world music, using a variety of unique instruments. Barry and Batya met at a musician’s workshop and instantly connected, musically and spiritually, marrying in 1987. Their songs, which incorporate rich vocal harmonies and ancient Yemenite elements such as prayer chanting, are based on scripture and have been translated into many languages.

Today, Barry and Batya live on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and in 1994 they established Vision for Israel and The Joseph Storehouse to help disadvantaged people in Israel and other nations.