The Shabbat Tent was filled with song as a group of young Jews gathered to celebrate Shabbat in the desert, during Phish Fest, a music and camping festival attracting thousands of Jews amid the tens of thousands of participants. We lifted a miniature Torah from a hardened plastic box. The parchment was cracked and faded, the deep grooves worn in the wood of the holders revealed its great age.

“Rabbi, is this your Torah?” Asked a festival-goer.

“No, this Torah is over 100 years old. I borrowed it from a Judaica collector I know – he was the only one who would let his Torah go out to the desert.”

“Rabbi – you need a Festival Torah!”

It was one of those “eureka” moments. Yes, we need a Torah!

This means commission the writing of a Torah that we can bring to young people that they can identify with as their own. Not an antique Torah, not a borrowed Torah, but a Festival Torah that accompanies us on our journeys to music and camping festivals in the mountains and deserts accross America. Phish Fest, Camp Jewlicious, Coachella, Bonnaroo, All Good … and the list goes on.

The Festival Torah will also honor the memory of those Jews and Jewish communities destroyed during the Holocaust with a special plaque affixed to the travelling ark.What better way to honor the memory of the thousands of destroyed communities that by helping to build a dynamic and vibrant young Jewish community?

The message of Shabbat Tent which is to unify, connect, and inspire young Jews to strengthen the the Jewish community from the ground up, is also about making a place for them in the community. The communities of Jews at festivals around the country, are communities that might only gather once a year, but provide a deep sense of purpose and community in ways that often brick and morter institutions can’t.

The Festival Torah will be featured at:

• Shabbat Tents at national music and camping festivals
• Camp Jewlicious – Music and Camping Festival
• Jewlicious Grassroots Leadership Summit
• Jewlicious Festival
• Other festivals and holidays

Please help us honor the past and build the future by becoming a sponsor. Add your energy and your vision by naming a book, a parsha, a column or any part of the Torah in memory of a loved one.

Suggested donations:  Book – $10,000 | Parsha – $1,000 | Special Parsha – $2,500 | Double Parsha – $1800 | Travelling Ark – $5,000 | Mantels $500 | Amud – $360 | Perek – $100 | Pasuk – $36