Jews in the Woods: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:58, 25 September 2006

Revision as of 20:04, 25 September 2006

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Also referred to as ''Fruity Jews'', or ''Fruity Jews in the woods'', JITW is an informal [[Shabbaton]] meeting that began in New England in 1997 and is held about twice each year. The group was founded by [[Dan Zimmerman]], [[Dan Smokler]], and [[Sasha Pulkow-Suransky]], three high school friends that attended [[Dartmouth College]], [[Yale University]], and [[Brown University]] respectively. JITW has come to be known for it serene, wooded locations, intense praying and singing, and musical, lyrical and terpsichorean geniuses who frequented its gatherings. It has been described as both ''neo-hasidic''[http://www.matzat.org.il/wallstumbledown.html] and ''post-denominational''[http://forward.com/main/article.php?ref=kamenetz200407071100]. The original gathering in 1997 was realtively small, consisting of friends that the three founders had made at their universities, and on two Israel summer programs: [[Nesiya]], and [[Bronfman Summer Seminar]]. The following year, word had spread, and there were over 100 attendees from the North East and Beyond. Following this event, the organizers decided that they needed to limit the size of the gatherings for the sake of intimacy; consequently, future gatherings hosted between 60 and 70 people. In 2000 and in 2001, the JitW gathering was held at [[9 Mountain retreat center]] in Plainfield, MA. Most of the original Jews in the Woods organizers graduated from college in 2001, and the informal group disbanded. The folks went on to start many [[minyanim]] elsewhere, but JitW took a hiatus.

Two years later, in the Spring of 2003, [[Ben Bregman]], who had been at the pre-hiatus gatherings, decided to organize a return to the woods. The fifth gathering was organized by [[Ben Bregman]] and [[Joe Gindi]] of [[Brown University]] and [[Wesleyan University]] respectively. During the planning of this retreat some important changes occurred. Jews in the Woods began to be organized in a more egalitarian, transparent way using a makeshift listserv. The process also evolved to include pluralism as a key value. The three-part davening space, orknown as[[meshlitzah]] or [[tri-chitzah]], was introduced as were a variety of compromises designed to make the community increasingly inclusive. This gathering was small and intimate, consisting of approximately 25 people, but included many of the folks who helped with the rebirth including [[Yona Gorelick]], [[Ari Johnson]], [[Zach Teutsch]], [[Lev Nelson]], and [[Rachel Stone]].

Johnson and Teutsch organized the sixth JitW gathering and then the seventh and eighth. As electronic tools including a [[wiki]] and a yahoogroup listserve became available, JitW organizers took advantage of the increased connectivity they provided. As with the fith gathering, the process of making the JitW community more egalitarian is still ongoing and there will always be more inclusivity to aspire towards, but innovations developed for these Jews in the Woods gatherings were significant and have impacted the larger Jewish community. The [[shabbatonim]]beagan to be held more often - once a semester - and grew from approximately 20 to over a hundred. Word spread. Many neat projects sprung out of the community as a result of its emphasis on possibility and its impact is begining to be seen on the young American Jewish community.