When Mark Snow heard about Jacob’s Ladder, an internationally touring Jewish Bluegrass or “Jewgrass” band, he knew he had to bring them to Congregation B’nai Jacob.
Snow, a current board member and immediate past president of B’nai Jacob, heard about the band from a family member last year who attended one of the bands performances at the Jewish Community Center of Summit in New Jersey.
“It sounded fantastic, so I reached out directly to the Jacob’s Ladder band and initiated a conversation,” Snow explained. “I felt they would be great to bring to Congregation B’nai Jacob.”
Jacob’s Ladder melds Eastern European Ashkenazic, Sephardic Jewish traditions and their American heritage to influence their style musical style. The band is rooted in traditional liturgy commonly found in Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or other traditional Jewish settings and believes it can expand beyond traditional melodies, according to the band’s website.
The band will join the Phoenixville synagogue for an artist-in-residence program from April 17-19 with programming for all ages.
“We’ve never had a program like this for our community,” added Snow.
The weekend will kick off Friday evening with musical Friday night services with the band. Then, on Saturday morning, the congregation will host its typical services with participation from Ariel Wyner, co-founder and band leader of Jacob’s Ladder, alongside the congregation’s Rabbi Jeff Sultar.
Saturday night, Snow said, will consist of a special Havdalah service with a full concert by the band, which will include audience participation. Then, Sunday morning will round out the weekend with a children’s musical performance with Jacob’s Ladder focusing on “tefillah, singing and movement, and really getting the kids to have a whole new appreciation of music along with their parents.”
“There’s so much exciting stuff going on in the Jewish community, people who are deeply committed to and immersed in Jewish tradition, who are kind of pushing the boundaries to reach out, to express that in different ways, and it’s easy to go about your regular Jewish life and not be aware of that,” said Sultar. “We have an opportunity to spend time with people and be exposed to what they’re doing to push a committed observance of Judaism in new directions.”
Sultar added that he wants to help shake people out of “business as usual” and bring Judaism that is “growing and evolving” to their community.
Snow explained that the congregation considers itself to have four pillars of Jewish life: engage, inspire, plan and grow.
“We have a lot of tradition in our synagogue,” he said. “When I researched the Jacob’s Ladder band and spoke with their founder, Ariel, it was really clear to me that two of the four pillars, engagement and inspiration, were aligned with what the purpose and focus of the Jacob’s Ladder band would be on an artist-in-residence weekend.”
Snow added that the weekend is not just for members of Congregation B’nai Jacob, but also for anyone in the community who is interested in coming and listening to the band.
“I think, in today’s world, people need some things that can feel uplifting to them, that can reach them spiritually and educationally,” Snow said. “In many ways, when you’re a synagogue of the size of CBJ, and we’re a smaller synagogue, community engagement [is] really important to keeping your congregation together and leading them down a path where we as an organization can thrive.”
Snow added, “I’m looking forward to kvelling as I kind of sit back and watch this performance and see smiles on the faces of our community, and see how much they’re enjoying this weekend.”