Wilderness Torah awakens and celebrates the earth-based traditions of Judaism to nourish the connections between self, community, earth, and Spirit.
Wilderness Torah revitalizes Jewish life by reconnecting Jewish traditions to the cycles of nature. We facilitate individual spiritual growth, strengthen multi-generational community, and connect people to nature through land-based festivals, rites of passage, and sustainable life skills education. Our programs cultivate understanding of Judaism’s earth-based roots, inspire appreciation for Creation, and offer skills that empower participants to engage in Tikkun Olam by living sustainably in the modern world.
Why Wilderness Torah?
Our ancestors were an agrarian people who lived in direct relationship to nature, relying on nature for all of their basics needs – food, their understanding of the Divine, and how they organized and sustained their communities. Yet due to centuries of displacement, urbanization, and the pace of modern life, we have all but lost these connections along with the inspiration and knowledge necessary to care for the earth. Given the critical circumstances facing both the environment and Jewish continuity today, there is a need to rekindle our relationship to nature so that we may play our part in repairing the world and strengthening the Jewish community.
Our Organizational Vision
Within three years, we will develop a Bay Area center for earth-based Judaism that integrates community programs, organic farm and sustainable life skills education, and nature awareness training – a local educational center that serves as a national resource and training ground for building healthy, sustainable Jewish community. We are developing curricula and will train Jewish leaders to bring Wilderness Torah’s programs into communities across the Jewish world.
We envision a world where…
Individuals are aware of their gifts and live from a place of purpose in order to best serve the community and the world.
Cohesive, supportive, multi-generational Communities provide the foundation of a socially and environmentally conscious life.
Humanity lives in harmony with the Earth with a profound awareness and connection to nature, and has the skills to fulfill its needs for food, water, and other resources in a manner that sustains life on earth and forges deeper connections with Creation.
Judaism flourishes as a relevant, meaningful, and joyful path for sustaining harmonious communities and providing the spiritual connection and strength required for the healing of ourselves and the world.