Day School Wilderness Immersion

Wilderness Torah provides three and four-day camping experiences in wilderness areas near the Bay Area for Jewish day school classes. These programs promote class bonding and individual growth, develop comfort with and connection to nature, and teach wilderness skills and natural history, all through the lens of Jewish tradition and its intrinsic relationship to the natural world.
Jewish Immersion
Based on core Jewish values — tikkun olam (stewardship), tzedaka (care for others), and gimilut chasidim (acts of kindness) — Wilderness Torah mentors use the Jewish calendar, Jewish texts, Jewish stories, and song to shepherd youth through an exciting Jewish nature journey. Holiday themes, Torah teachings, and practices such as nature-blessings and hitbodedut (sitting quietly in nature) are brought to life in the wilderness.

Peer Group Bonding & Collaboration
Wilderness Torah mentors engage student groups as a family, seeking to deepen connections between members of the class and teachers through group games and challenges that encourage teamwork and heart-centered activities that foster personal connections.

Improving Self-Confidence
Children leave behind modern conveniences and learn tools of self-reliance in nature. By learning to work with their hands, finding their way off trail in the forest, making their own food, and sitting quietly alone in nature, students gain deeper understanding and confidence in their skills and abilities.

Nature Connection & Awareness
Wilderness Torah mentors take students on a journey to awaken the senses and open students’ eyes to the wonders of nature through games, challenges, and teachings that foster awareness and radical amazement of the natural world.

Wilderness Survival Skills & Natural History
Wilderness Torah mentors introduce basic wilderness survival skills such as fire-making and shelter-building, teach students how to interface with nature through nature crafts such as basketry and primitive bow-making, natural history and ecology lessons, and through lessons ranging from native plants and wild foods to animal tracking, bird language, and astronomy.

Locations
Wilderness Torah customizes campouts for each organization’s needs. These programs are held in wilderness areas within 1–2 hours of the Bay Area including Henry Coe State Park — the largest state wilderness area in Northern California near San Jose; Memorial Park — a magical coastal redwood forest near Pescadero; and at the primitive backcountry site at Camp Newman in Santa Rosa.

Food
Wilderness Torah employs excellent backcountry chefs, providing a nourishing menu featuring local, organic and kosher foods that we customize for each program.

Staffing
Wilderness Torah prides itself on providing high-quality mentorship experiences where each child is seen for her gifts and challenged at just the right level. Thus, we use a student to staff ratio of no more than 10 to 1. Our mentors are experienced Jewish nature educators who also teach in Wilderness Torah’s youth programs and festivals. We collaborate with your organization’s staff to integrate your curriculum seamlessly into the Wilderness Torah experience. We can arrange to visit your students before and after a trip to create continuity.

If you need more information email us!