(FULL-LENGTH, TWO ACTS) A Finalist in the 2022 National Jewish Playwriting Contest: Sixty-something widower Ken clings to his proud but slowly dying Jewish congregation in the tiny town of Wiconee, Iowa; visiting graduate student Marianela represents a burgeoning community of Colombians who have only recently rediscovered their Jewish roots. As Mari’s true intentions are revealed, the synagogue’s antique Torah scroll—the rolled parchment containing the handwritten five books of Moses, referred to in Jewish tradition as an etz chayim, “tree of life”—becomes a critical character in the bittersweet (and occasionally comic) drama that unfolds. Interlocking with the present narrative of Congregation Etz Chayim’s demise, the story of the synagogue’s origins and its Torah’s mysterious past plays out in the same space, a century before. Inspired by real events, through a tale that explores little-known realities of recent history and shifts between continents and across centuries, Tree of Life should provoke us to examine the elements of our own identities. How—through what connections—do we define who we are? Do we belong to our past, or does it belong to us? What do we hold onto, and when should we let go?