Neal Katz.

Neal Katz has been making Jewish and folk music for more than thirty years. Raised in the Reform Movement, he began as a song leader at youth gatherings, summer camps, congregations, and teen programs in the United States, Israel, Europe, and the former Soviet Union.

Neal has released four albums spanning contemporary Jewish and original folk music. His songs—including “Or Chadash,” “Oseh Shalom,” and “Be a Light”—have been featured in Jewish songbooks, recordings, camps, congregations, and youth programs. A finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk competition, he has performed at festivals, coffeehouses, congregations, and house concerts across the country.

Neal has also produced several charitable compilation albums supporting social-service, hospice, and peace-building organizations in East Texas. He serves as rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Tyler, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Jennifer.