“Tree of Life” is the story of a 100-year-old Jewish synagogue in the town of Wicone, Iowa. Victor Wishna’s beautiful story speaks deeply to the concepts of identity and belonging, and what happens to an individual, and to a community when that identity and belonging is threatened. The story flows back and forth from 1916 to 2016, and I believed it was important to use music to make the transitions seamless for the audience. In the sound design, director Jonah Greene and I agreed that we wanted to lean into traditional Jewish musical themes, while being careful not allow the music to slip into caricature.  From opening musical refrain of the traditional Hebrew blessing Adonai ro-i, lo echsar  (The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want), the music serves to underline our own deep desire for belonging and continuity, contrasted with the inevitable reality of change. Clarinets, strings, and accordions, along with a few vocal tracks are used in traditional Jewish melodies for musical transition and underscore. The play ends with the music of “L’ador V’dor,” a traditional blessing translated “from generation to generation” The blessing ends with the Amen, or “so be it,” echoing the story’s theme of God’s continuity in the midst of change in the world that we as humans are not able to stop.

“Tree of Life,” The Story of How Judaism Lives On – Review by Naftali Tilove