Wilderness Torah’s Rite of Passage

A Ceremony & Celebration of Transformation

This event has been postponed. Stay tuned for a new date coming soon.

This year, Wilderness Torah has embarked on a rite of passage.

Since its inception, Wilderness Torah has worked to create a culture of initiation —  one in which we intentionally honor important transitions in life. Like an adult stepping into a new life stage, Wilderness Torah is now transforming into its next phase — embracing a deeper, more aligned, organizational identity.

Just as Wilderness Torah may have supported you during an important life transition or transformational moment, we’re now asking for your support in holding us through ours.

Join the Wilderness Torah community for a historic rite-of-passage ceremony and celebration!

  • We will meet in a beautiful park in the East Bay hills of California (exact location shared upon registration).
  • The event will begin with an interactive rite-of-passage ceremony led by Rabbi Zelig and other community leaders.
  • Following the ceremony, the community is invited to enjoy a delicious catered meal made from freshly sourced ingredients, refreshments, experiential musical merriment with beloved community musicians, and a potluck dessert
  • Plus a fun raffle with exciting prizes, and more surprises to come!

Wilderness Torah seeks your love, prayers, and support to usher in a new era. 

What transitions will we honor?

Wilderness Torah is evolving to more clearly align with its goals of village-building, healing, belonging, and resilience. We will honor several important organizational transitions: several important organizational transitions: 

  • Rabbi Zelig Golden’s transition to Director of Spirituality & Education for Wilderness Torah, positioning him to offer his greatest gifts to the community, including facilitating ritual, teaching, thought leadership, and mentoring
  • Evolving from a hierarchical leadership structure to a more circular & collaborative leadership model. Learn more about our team!
  • Establishing a dedicated social justice council to prioritize diversity, equity & inclusion 
  • Building more sustainable financial models to support the growth of youth, community, and online programs

“I can honestly say that I’ve never been more interested in exploring my Jewish roots and understanding how the wisdom of this tradition can inform my life today, and that spark has come from this community”

Schedule

Below is a rough schedule for the day:

11:30 am – 12:00 pm Arrival and Welcome
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Ritual & Ceremony
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm Lunch, raffle signups, and dessert
3:00 pm – 3:15 pm Announce raffle winners
3:15 pm – 4:45 pm Singing, dancing, music, and merriment
4:45 pm – 5:00 pm Closing circle & goodbyes

“This was the first time I have ever had a spiritual experience in Jewish space, and I’ve been attending Jewish services for 33 years. Thank Godx for this inclusive, mystical, feminist, and Earth-based way of praying.”

FAQ

A rite of passage is a ritual, event or experience that marks a major milestone or change in a person’s life. Like a B’Mitzvah or a graduation ceremony, Wilderness Torah wants to honor and celebrate transforming into its next phase — embracing its deeper organizational identity.

By marking transition with a rite of passage, it is our hope to garner the support and witnessing of our community. We are embarking on an endeavor that holds many challenges, and we need your prayers as we step into this new evolution.

Yes, this is a great opportunity to get to know community members, learn more about our organization, and see how we support initiations. We strive to create a welcoming environment with ice-breakers and other facilitated activities, so folks can engage with each other and meet someone new.  

 Yes! For a $36 ticket, you can do a 2 hour Avodah role at the event.  You must first LEARN MORE & APPLY HERE. 

  • Layers/appropriate clothes
  • Hat/sunscreen
  • Instruments if you like
  • Backjack, cushion, or blanket to sit on if you like
  • Snack if you’ll be hungry before lunch (we will eat around 1:30 pm)
  • Your water bottle or cup, a plate and silverware (there will not be a dish station so you’ll need to take it home to clean – we will have some compostables in case you forget).
  • If you want to bring dessert for our dessert potluck, please indicate so on your registration, and we will email you before the event with instructions on what to bring.

Wonderful, we’d love that. Please indicate on your registration form that you are willing to bring a dessert.  We will email you a couple weeks before the event with instructions on how to sign up. We’ll need about 20 folks to bake 20 cookies or brownies of various types, with a couple GF and Vegan options.

We are serving a buffet, tapas-style meal catered by Market Hall in Oakland.  All dishes will be gluten and dairy free, with any gluten and dairy served on the side.  There will be a vegan or fish option, so please indicate which you would prefer on your registration form.

If you require a certified kosher meal, you can indicate this on your registration form. We will order separate kosher meals for those who request one.

This event will occur in a large picnic grove in an East Bay park in the hills.  We do not publish the exact address for security purposes. The exact location will be shared upon registration.

Yes. We will meet on mostly flat, grassy terrain.  The parking lot has 9 accessible parking spaces available, and the path into the picnic grove is paved level surface.  

We plan to meet rain or shine. In case of rain, bring your best rain gear and an umbrella. There are some covered areas where we can be for the eating portion of the day if it rains.

More questions? Contact us