Judaism is an earth-based tradition, replete with instructions and traditions that guide us to align our lives with nature’s cycles. We will explore a wide range of original texts and stories from the field about Judaism’s earth-based roots and how the JOFEE movement is awakening Judaism’s indigenous soul. Come ready to dive into the world of Jewish rain shamans, sacred fires, vision quests – our ancient paradigm for our aching modern hearts.

Wilderness is the place where most of us find our deepest connection to G-d, and wilderness is central to the Jewish origin story. Join us on a journey to explore ancient lore about our ancestral relationship to wilderness. Come ready to build your text skills for inspiring and opening the door of the wilderness as a Jewish place for spiritual journeys.

The Hebrew calendar is our ancient nature-connection operating system. Explore how our entire cultural and spiritual system revolves around the rain and why Sukkot was the biggest ancient Jewish party of the year. With primary texts and the Hebrew calendar, join us to uncover the profound relationship between Jewish tradition and Creation’s cycles, and how the Hebrew calendar inherently connects us to nature’s rhythms.

Rabbi Zelig Golden, Wilderness Torah’s Founding Director, expresses his vision for earth-based Judaism by integrating thought leadership, ritual facilitation, and village-based mentorship to support local Jewish life, regional land-based festivals, nature-based youth programs and rites of passage. Zelig was ordained rabbi by ALEPH, earned a Masters in Jewish Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, and was previously ordained Maggid by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi ztz”l.