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For decades, leftist Jews have gathered around the Twin Cities for backyard meals in a sukkah, for living room shabbat prayers, for singing in parks, at dive bar Purim spiels, in organizing and taking action together. These are the seeds of the World to Come.
During High Holidays 5782, a group of people came together to create outdoor Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur offerings. From there, we created an email listserv where radical Jews in the Twin Cities could connect and share invitations, which we named the World to Come Twin Cities.
Since then, we’ve had yearly High Holiday gatherings in 5783, 5784, and 5785 with a mix of traditional services, creative ritual, mikvah lake immersions, meals, dance parties, a Yom Kippur retreat in the woods, and more. We’ve learned, prayed, sang, and celebrated holidays together. We’ve experimented with different forms of organization and gatherings. The listserv has been a place where people can freely share events and have robust discussion.
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In winter 5784, as Israel’s genocide in Gaza escalated, many of us felt an increased need for Jewish community that would denounce the violence and name the root causes of Zionism and settler colonialism. We needed spiritual fortitude and Jewish ritual space that did not force us to choose between our Jewishness and our convictions around justice in Palestine.
In 5784 and 5785 a group of us started meeting regularly and formed the WTC organizing collective: a group of all volunteers who would commit to one year of organizing the emergent magic that we hope serves our community: high holidays and monthly shabbats, and maintaining the email list and a calendar for people to share all kinds of events to. It’s been amazing to see what people have lovingly offered and voluntarily stewarded: a weekly Torah study, an art show and craft group, a prize-winning quilt, and much more. In 5785 we articulated our values, created a decision making process, formalized how we raise money for events, and more.
On the cusp of 5786, we are beginning a new chapter of the WTC, launching a public website and creating clearer ways to get involved with our organizing. In the coming years, we want to create spaces to deepen our Jewish learning and build and grow networks of care in the lineage of leftist and Jewish traditions of mutual aid and gemilut chasidim (acts of loving kindness). We hope to diversify our Jewish ritual offerings, and create Jewish spaces where all who resonate with our values, or are curious or interested, feel welcomed and at home.
We know we must deepen our connection to and collective responsibility to repair on Mni Sota Makoce, and build stronger relationships with our neighbors. We hope you’ll join us to water these sprouts, plant seeds of your own and harvest the fruit that contributes to a nourishing community. We know that in these times, we need each other more than ever.