Religion & Beliefs
I Am Not Crunchy Enough For Jews in the Woods
By Tamar Fox / October 15, 2007
So there’s this awesome thing called Jews in the Woods. Basically, it’s a shabbaton held way out in some rural location in the Northeast, and recently it’s been happening as often as three or four times a year, and even in Israel. Also known as Fruity Jews in the Woods or just Fruity Jews, the group is led by an informal contingent of mostly college students, and they’ve done all kinds of really cool and innovative things, though by far my favorite is their tri-chitzah, a mechitzah that separates the group into three sections so that people who want to have egalitarian davening can be accommodated, as can people who want separate seating. Pretty nifty, eh? 
JitW is completely non-denominational and not run by any overseeing organization like the Federation. Money comes from grants, though there isn’t much of it, and there’s no mission statement or agenda. Read an awesome Forward article about Jews in the Woods here, or visit their wikipedia page. The JitW website is not quite as helpful as you might want (though that’s by design, apparently) but here’s my favorite little blurb:
Jews in the Woods is a community. JITW is a laboratory for a vibrant, inclusive Judaism. JITW is a way for Jews of a younger generation to create a Jewish community that draws on the love and wisdom of Jewish tradition as well as the richness of contemporary American and world civilization. JITW is the first Jewish community I’ve found that is not built around the pain and fear of previous generations. With a commitment to respect and working things out, there is a joy present that is hard to find elsewhere. JITW is, for some folks, the only Jewish setting where they feel at home. And for others of us, it’s the Jewish setting where we feel most at home. JITW is a place where it is the norm to be Jewish and: Jewish and feminist; Jewish and queer; Jewish and pagan; Jewish and an anarchist; Orthodox and egalitarian; Jewish and vegetarian; Jewish and dating a non-Jew; Jewish and Buddhist. JITW is a Jewish community where geography is incidental. Moving across the state or even a few states away is irrelevant to membership, participation, and leadership. This is so valuable in an age when synagogue membership (and thus, connection to a particular form of Jewish community) is so geographically linked. – ilana s
If this sounds like the community for you then I encourage you to go to the JitW website and click on the making contact link.
Sadly, even though I’m totally in awe of all of the rockin’ pluralism and innovation going on there, I think I’m a little too straight-edge for JitW. I would pretty much rather poke my eye out with a rusty old menorah than put my arms around someone else and sway while singing Eliyahu HaNavi. But hey, if singing and swaying is your thing I give you a virtual high five and usher you towards JitW. Go and be Jewcy in the Woods!
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Sounds like Chabad with shrubbery. Anybody who gets itchy from shrubbery can just go to the nearest Chabad.
Oh, go give it a try, Tamar. The bears aren’t going to eat you in the woods, not if you go with two strong friends.
Communing with nature is a very ancient Shabbos thing to do. Within the 39 prohibited labors, of course. These limitations make it interesting.
Live a little.
G-d is not uptight; we are. Would an uptight G-d have made an ardvaark? An anteater? A lemur?
Thanks for the JITW shout-out, though, there is one small correction. JITW has historically met twice a year, with a few years hosting two smaller gatherings at the same time (more or less) rather than one big one. I dont know any year where we got up to four. Also, right now JITW is on a bit of a hiatus, as there is a leadership vacume, and no body has stepped up to plan the next one. If you want to attend, you may need to jump on the email list and offer to plan it. Which would actually be a very woodsy thing to do.
I wouldn't dream of implying the JiTW is coercive or in any way disrspectful. Though I'm sure they'd be fine with me sitting out whatever I wanted to sit out, I think that the fruity environment would drive me a little bonkers, and I think it would be pretty disrespectful of me to go to JiTW and spend the majority of Shabbat being an attitude problem and rolling my eyes too much. So, again, I commend them for everything they do, and respectfully I stay the hell out of the woods.
<i>I would pretty much rather poke my eye out with a rusty old menorah than put my arms around someone else and sway while singing Eliyahu HaNavi.</i>
Though I'm generally pretty crunchy, I agree with you 100% about putting my arms around other people and swaying, especially during havdalah. Given that, the one time I went to JITW, I found it to be one of the least coercive and most respectful fruity Jewish spaces I have ever experienced in that regard. I chose to participate by standing outside the circle, as did others, and everyone was fine with that — no one tried to drag us in without our consent, no one glared at us or called us misanthropic, etc.
For more on the trichitza and its history, see the comments at http://mahrabu.blogspot.com/2006/04/hilchot-pluralism-part-iii-macroscopic.html .
(And let's be careful not to conflate egalitarian davening and mixed seating.)
Anon3– I don't know what Ilana S had in mind when she wrote "Jewish and pagan" thing, but my guess is it's more about earth based spirituality than polytheism. the main point is creating a temporary space where everyone is accepted and not judged even for things people disagree strongly about.
Yeah, JitW is pretty crunchy. But there's been a lot of effort put into making sure that no one feels pressured into group hugs and arms-on-shoulders-circles.
As you point out, it's not everyone's scene. It's one I've enjoyed quite a bit, and learned a lot from :)
The term "tri-hitza" may be a new innovation, but the thing itself isn't. I helped organize such a minyan at the Pardes Institute 30 years ago, and I suspect there were similar divisions in many traditional shuls before that.
I knew some of those guys in college, and I'm totally with you on this one, Tamar. You'd probably rather poke both eyes out with the rusty menorah.
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