Participation, Jewish Practice & Lineage

What is MANNA?

MANNA invokes the mythic idea that as we make our way through life’s wilderness we receive spiritual sustenance from a mysterious source, often just enough to take the next step on our path. We offer MANNA as both a prayer of gratitude for that which supports us to live an expanding life and a prayer that we may learn how to truly show up for each other, the land and spirit. Knowing that these are hard times and good nourishment is vital. We are guided by Exodus 16:32 ‘Take an omer of MANNA and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I [G-D] gave you to eat in the wilderness…”  building on the Torah that resource comes to us when we make ourselves ownerless, freeing ourselves narrowing beliefs, as the Israelites did in their desert wanderings.

At MANNA, we seek to nurture the creative potential of our community. 

MANNA is a 4-day outdoor festival in New Cuyama on traditional lands to the Chumash people. Participants bring their own camping gear and supply their own food outside of the 3 shabbat meals provided.

There are workshops and other creative offerings shared throughout the day, as well as opportunities to go on hikes, explore the creek, and sit back and relax at camp.

In the evening there are rituals invoking Jewish traditions, as well as sacred fire, music, dance and playful happenings.

Group Rituals

There are several moments dedicated to collective encounter and presence for the whole village. These include Kabbalat Shabbat, Saturday morning Torah service, Havdalah, and lighting and tending down the Sacred Fire. Everyone is encouraged to participate in these encounters and co-create a sense of interconnectedness in the village. 

Learning & Conversation Circles

Each day at MANNA there is a time held for connection, learning and building relationships. These circles are optional and participants can choose for themselves which ones feel most inspiring to participate in.


Topics include:

  • Earth-based Judaism

  • Pesach traditions

  • Approaching Israel + Palestine Relationally

  • Sacred Fire

  • Emotional Health + Well-being

  • Jewish Diaspora

Emergence and Mutual Support

We offer a schedule of rituals and activities to help participants connect and unify, and yet there is a world of possibility outside of that which is “planned”. Participants are invited to connect with their prayers/intentions for coming to MANNA throughout the festival (even before arriving) and to let the agenda drop. There is much richness to be found in the space between things. Clarity and inner contact with our own orientation can support us to be better guided towards that which will be truly fulfilling, nourishing and pleasurable at the festival. 

Flow and emergence are more possible when we engage a culture of mutual support. Ask for the help you need, experiment with disclosing your vulnerabilities and desires in appropriate ways. Help each other out. Offer food, a seat around the fire, an open hand. When we all engage with making our wants known and our offers clear, we create a beautiful environment of mutual support that allows us to enjoy our gathering more deeply.

How to make an offering:

All programming aside from the learning circles and ritual moments is emergent programming. We invite you

As long as it adheres to the participation principals

If you need help on-site, find Ariella or Daniel

Shabbat

We hope to collectively embrace Shabbat consciousness throughout the festival, but especially from Friday sunset through Saturday sunset. Shabbat consciousness refers to embodying a sense of holiness and sanctity in everyday life, receiving time as a gift and resting in the flow of life. It is a practice that encourages us to live with awareness, intention and gratitude, both during Shabbat itself and as a frequency we can connect with anytime we need it. 

Consider slowing down and turning your phone off for Shabbat. We invite participants to take Shabbat at MANNA as a time to unplug, rest, wander, simply be and attune. 

Halacha and Matzah

Halacha, creating a culture of mutual respect & curiosity

Halacha is the term applied to many customs and laws that guide Jewish life. Some people have more traditional or classical understandings of Halacha, some people are actively engaged in renewing and innovating Halacha. For some people engaging with these instructions is very important to their Jewish identity and practice, for others it isn’t really part of the picture.

Halacha literally translates to “The Way”.  

At MANNA we enter with curiosity and a tendency towards the undefined, leaning into questions more than answers. We ask: How much difference in our ‘Ways’ can we tolerate, even enjoy? What do we gain when we come together in common ‘Ways’ that bring unity and alignment? Which classical Jewish instructions make sense to you and are in coherence with your intentions and values? Which ones don’t? What is the value in practicing ancient ‘Ways’ we may not understand or like? If we were to write a new set of ‘Ways’ to help us live in more balance with the times we are living in, what would those look like?


We welcome many ‘Ways’ or approaches to Jewish customs at MANNA. There are 10,000 ways a person might practice Shabbat, Kashrut (Jewish eating practice), Davening (Jewish prayer) and other ways of doing Jewish. We ask participants to approach each other’s ‘Ways’ with curiosity and mutual respect. 

During Passover, also known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, many Jews refrain from eating leavened bread and other “expanding” or fermented foods. Some Jews refrain from wine during Passover, while others ceremoniously drink many cups of manischewitz around the Seder table! We invite participants to explore what relationship to bread and leavened foods is right for them while attending MANNA and encourage all of us to cut out some fluff and enjoy the simplicity of matzah.

Passover ends Saturday night of the festival, marking our return to chametz. In Kabbalah, chametz represents ego and excess, while matzah symbolizes humility. As we reintegrate, bring some bread to celebrate—with awareness and balance!


Pilgrimage Festival

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

Psalm 84

Every year, Jewish custom invites the telling of the Passover story around the seder table. This can be a beautiful practice of oral storytelling and can often lead to hearty debate about freedom and justice. We celebrate these aspects of Passover tradition. 

And, what might it look like to revive and embody some of the spirit that we talk about around the Seder table? How might it feel to gather in a wild place trying to make sense of our lived experience of freedom and justice? What happens when we take the story of Passover, its mythology and seasonality, its nostalgia and aromas, and take it on the road, away from our homes? What does it mean to set one's heart on pilgrimage?

We hope to remember the bones of our ancestors, even as we leave our homes and take to the road. We recall that one of Moses’ most important acts was pausing as the Israelites left Egypt to pursue their freedom. It is said that he stopped, remembering to gather Joseph’s bones and bring them with the newly freed people. Passover is not simply a meditation on freedom and the movement out from the narrows, it is also a bag of bones on our backs, reminding us of where we come from, asking - to whom are we responsible?

As pilgrims celebrating the ancient Festival of Unleavened Bread, we seek to embody both freedom and responsibility, trusting that as a collective we will find the next step on our Way.

On ideas of wilderness, colonization and diaspora

We often romanticize the idea of wilderness as a place without people. Perhaps this idea serves in the mythic imagination but it can be problematic when it is used to dismiss the presence and history of real people who do exist in a place. The project of colonization and genocide of Indigenous people in North America has a violent and traumatizing legacy that continues to this day. This project aims to erase knowledge of who was here before European settlers arrived and ultimately disconnect all of us from the rooted, life-giving relationship to land that is our shared inheritance. When we gather in New Cuyama we are gathering on the ancestral homelands of the Chumash people. We are in the early stages of building relationship with local Chumash people, we do not carry ancestral knowledge of this place and how to tend it well, we barely know where to begin. 

We are sharing with you a really beautiful way to support the Chumash people on whose ancestral lands we will be gathering. There is an indigenous led initiative, The Anapamu Alliance, whose mission is to facilitate a continuation of local Chumash indigenous arts, wellness, and culture. Please consider sending a generous donation to their efforts! Chumash elder & wisdom keeper, Carmen Aqimowon-Sandoval, will be joining us at the Sacred Fire throughout our gathering.


How will the offerings, artistic impulses, rituals and fireside conversations reflect our varying beliefs about peace and justice? What will happen when participants disagree and conflict emerges? How does MANNA mirror cultural trends and polemics in the wider world? Most importantly for us as organizers - how will MANNA help nurture the more peaceful and beautiful world we know we are here to co-create? 

Honoring our Festival Lineage

 

Our Lineage & Inspiration

We draw much inspiration and motivation from the work of Wilderness Torah and the Passover in the Desert pilgrimage festival. We honor all the hard work and years of culture building led by Rabbi Zelig Golden and many individuals involved with WT over the years.


We bow in respect and humility to other lineages that inform our work, including: Reb Zalman and the Jewish Renewal Movement, Art of Mentoring International, Burning Man, Buckeye Gathering and Consejo de Visiones. As we acknowledge some of the pillars on which we stand, we remember and invoke the teaching from Pirkei Avot 2:16 “It is not up to you to finish the task, but you are not free to avoid it”. We are here to simply take the next step on a path that many have been forging long before we got here and many more will walk long after we are gone.

Other things to remember

Public Road

There is a public road that runs through our site. This road has very little traffic and it is mostly local folks going about their business. We don’t expect this to be an issue but want to make sure everyone is aware ahead of time.

Sanitation

Please practice basic sanitation principles. Wash your hands regularly, especially after using the bathroom and before eating. Wash and disinfect your dishes after use, make sure you are using clean cooking water, keep it tidy!

Take responsibility for the waste you generate.

If you choose to smoke, please be conscious of where you are smoking and if the people around you consent to being exposed.

Trash

Our site hosts are generously organizing waste management for us. More info given upon arrival.

Dog Policy

Please leave your dogs and pets at home!

Recording and Photography

For informational and artistic purposes, elements of this event may be recorded, video-taped, or photographed.  All attendees agree to this.  Likewise, all people doing such documenting are asked to act respectfully and with no sense of entitlement, as such privileges can be taken away. You may not use media recorded at MANNA for personal gain or business.