Lenny was born at a very early age in Hartford, Connecticut, USA in 1936. His sister was an only child. Having ADHA he was diagnosed as “overly joyous” and treated as “special case” which influenced his career choices to share his wisdom, novel way of teaching with optimism & TLC to bring his students, audience and readers to greater success while enjoying the journey.

Lenny graduated BA in English Literature at Emerson College in Boston in 1960. He became an English Teacher for the New York Public School System, as well as a Shakespearean Actor for the New York City Shakespeare Festival, and an Off Broadway theater director, 1961-1964. He acted in productions of King Lear, Henry IV Part One, and All’s Well That End’s Well, as well as appearing in musicals such as Guys and Dolls, Pajama Game and West Side Story. He later became a lecturer in speech and drama at the University of Alabama, after receiving his MA in Educational Theater from Samford University in Alabama, in 1970. Lenny left the United States to live in Israel because he was on a “mission from God.” He met “Her” and they were married in Jerusalem in 1965. He returned to the States in 1967-1973 to continue teaching and studying education. Mr. Ravich returned to Israel and became Supervisor of English Instruction for the State of Israel Board of Education in 1973. While supervising English Instructors, he also directed productions for theaters throughout Israel, as well as serving as an acting teacher and coach until his retirement in 1996.

Lenny established the Gestalt Institute of Tel Aviv, in 1987 and is its’ director till date, after studying the Gestalt Approach to Therapy with the Gestalt Institute of New Orleans, Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and Los Angeles. He is the author of the State of Israel’s Platinum Award-winning book, “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Enlightenment” which has helped thousands of people come to terms with stress, depression, and helplessness through the use of humor, laughter, and the comic vision. Lenny wrote his first book at the age of 64 and since then had written two more best sellers and a few movie scripts. He is a member of the National Speakers Association, The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor.

Lenny combines motivational speaking with well researched facts from the science of Positive Psychology. During 2009 Lenny has been a part of a team from the University of Jerusalem to research the effects of humor on residents of mental institution. Measurements were taken before and after humor intervention provided by Lenny.

Lenny appears every few month on TV, radio and news in Israel and in the world sharing his laughter and optimism messages with as many possible audiences. He lectures worldwide including Singapore, Kenya, South Africa, Belgium and the US. Lenny was chosen to lead the teaching of Applied and Therapeutic Humor Games workshop for the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH).

He presently lives in Tel-Aviv with his wife Alisa. They have three children and six grandchildren. When asked how his marriage lasted for so long he says: “It is based on the most amazing emotion in the world: Fear. She’s afraid to live alone and I’m afraid of her.”

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