In the late 18th century, Chassidic Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav said the surest way to pray to God is to go outside. Nature and the power of living things will help prayers ascend to heaven.
This weekend, a group of 25 will try to experience this natural spirituality at a family Shabbat camp-out.
“Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav is the original granola head,” said Matt Biers-Ariel, director of Jewish education at the Marin Jewish Community Center.
But it takes one granola head to know another. “It’s so much easier to have a feeling of Shabbat when you’re out in the woods,” said Biers-Ariel. “You’re not disturbed by televisions, telephones or cars.”
The weekend won’t be too rugged or too strenuous. Biers-Ariel will bring all the food and cooking supplies, although campers will help with the actual cooking and cleanup. “Going camping and having someone do all the preparations for you — it doesn’t get any easier than that,” he said.
And it won’t even be far from home. The camp site is at Samuel P. Taylor State Park — less than a half-hour drive from the MJCC.
The trip is a perfect opportunity for Biers-Ariel, a veteran of 15 years leading Jewish wilderness trips, to combine his two passions — that of Jewish educator and naturalist.
“The Bible was not written in support of cities,” Biers-Ariel said, citing the disastrous ends of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah. The ancient Jews were “very wary of the city. They were a semi-nomadic people.”
Biers-Ariel also pointed out that many of the most significant events of the Bible occurred in nature. It was at the edge of the wilderness that God first appeared to Moses at the burning bush. Moses received the Ten Commandments at the top of Mount Sinai, having first spent 40 days and nights there alone. It was also in the wilderness that Jacob had his dream about the ladder.
Using biblical text, Jewish philosophical writings and his own creative ideas, Biers-Ariel has planned a weekend of games and other activities to infuse campers with the feeling of Shabbat and reacquaint them with the beauty of nature. Some of the activities will be for the whole family. Others will be just for the children, while the adults study and discuss text.
“The first time you see something in nature it’s a miracle,” Biers-Ariel said, paraphrasing the teachings of the founder of Chassidism, the Baal Shem Tov. “The second time it’s natural. Every time after that we disregard it completely.”
To once again appreciate the miracle of nature, Biers-Ariel plans to play “camera.” One camper will be the eyes and lead another camper with closed eyes, to a spot that makes a beautiful picture. After being tapped on the head, the second camper will open his or her eyes for five seconds and take in the view.
“This is to get people to re-look at the natural world for the first time with children’s eyes,” Biers-Ariel explains. “The great Chassidic masters had the greatest access to God through the environment. So we will use the environment as a shul.”
Before the weekend is over, campers should be hugging trees, hiking and thinking about their relationship and responsibilities to the environment. They will even indulge in the time-honored camp-out dessert — s’mores.
As for the strict granola heads, they can dine on tofu dogs.