When Jacob’s Ladder takes the stage, you don’t just hear music—you feel it. Banjo, mandolin, and fiddle weave into familiar Hebrew melodies, lifting old words on fresh rhythms. The result is a sound that feels both rooted and brand new: Jewish bluegrass.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, Walnut Street Minyan in Newton will host Jacob’s Ladder in concert, a night that promises not just music, but community, energy, and reimagined tradition.
Bridging Bluegrass and Jewish Soul
Jacob’s Ladder began as an experiment. Fronted by singer and multi-instrumentalist Ariel Wyner, the group emerged from an earlier project, Kol Kahol, that focused primarily on Jewish bluegrass, but without the soulful, genre-defying element. It was strictly standard bluegrass melodies paired with Kabbalat Shabbat psalms. The turn toward soulful, genre-bending music wasn’t a gimmick but a discovery: both traditions thrive on communal singing, spiritual yearning, and a deep sense of storytelling. Since then, Jacob’s Ladder has written a ton of original music that has expanded all genres, though tied together with the sounds of bluegrass instruments.
Bluegrass, with its “boom-chuck” rhythm and earthy acoustic instruments, carries a danceable, trance-like quality. Jewish liturgy, with its mystical texts and soulful melodies, invites contemplation and joy. Put the two together and something surprising happens—the banjo seems to belong under the words of Lecha Dodi, and a fiddle line feels like it’s been echoing alongside psalms for centuries.
Ariel describes the project as intuitive. “We weren’t trying to force bluegrass onto Jewish music,” he says. “It just made sense. Both traditions are about community. Both are about joy, resilience, and finding meaning through sound.”
From Campfires to Kabbalah
The group’s influences range from Andy Statman—the renowned klezmer clarinetist and innovative mandolinist associated with the 1970s northern bluegrass movement—to the countless summer camps where kids first strummed guitars around the fire. Their latest work goes deeper, layering Sephardic and Mizrahi sounds into the mix and drawing inspiration from Hasidic stories and Kabbalistic texts.
The band’s upcoming album, Hamakom, takes its name from the Hebrew word for “place”—but also “the Divine.” It’s a meditation on the idea of music as a spiritual home, a way to connect to heritage without being bound by walls. In Ariel’s words: “Music is where we come together. It’s where we remember who we are, and where we want to go.”
Singing the Jewish Present
That “where we want to go” is what excites Walnut Street Minyan. Since its founding, Walnut Street Minyan has been a hub for thoughtful experimentation in Jewish practice. Rooted in tradition yet unafraid to innovate, the community explores new ways of making liturgy alive—whether through inclusive prayer, meaningful ritual design, or hosting music that pushes boundaries while honoring the past. Walnut Street Minyan in Newton is an independent shul with no movement affiliation, paid staff, or paid rabbi.
Bringing Jacob’s Ladder to Walnut Street Minyan is more than booking a concert. It’s a statement: Jewish tradition is not frozen in time. Like bluegrass itself, it adapts, borrows, and evolves. This September, the Davening Room becomes a stage for that evolution.
Music as Memory, Music as Future
At its core, Jacob’s Ladder is not just about blending genres. It’s about creating shared experiences. Ariel notes that in both bluegrass jams and Shabbat song circles, the power comes from participation. “It’s not just performance. It’s community singing together. That’s where the joy lives.”
That communal joy resonates with a broader Jewish story. American Jewry has always adapted its musical identity—klezmer, cantorial, folk, even pop—each generation layering new sounds onto old prayers. For many, the golden age of American Jewish life wasn’t about institutions but about voices rising together, singing songs that carried both memory and hope. Jacob’s Ladder is building on that legacy, reminding us that tradition isn’t only about preservation; it’s also about reinvention.
Come Join Us
On Sept. 4, Jacob’s Ladder and Walnut Street Minyan invite the community to witness—and join—this reinvention. Expect music that surprises you, rhythms that make you want to move, and ancient words that suddenly feel alive in a whole new way.
Jewish music has always carried us through exile, joy, struggle, and renewal. This concert promises to continue that journey, one fiddle break and one heartfelt chorus at a time.
Come ready to listen. Come ready to sing.
There is no charge for tickets, but because space is limited, we request that you pre-register.
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