As Jewish organizers creating a Jewish holiday event on Turtle Island (North America) at this moment in history, we feel compelled to include the following statement and prayer:     

• We will do our best to create a thoughtful, inclusive, pluralistic, justice-oriented, emergent, joyful, collective convergence. We recognize that in our efforts we will miss the mark, disappoint people and be incoherent as organizers and as a community. Thanks in advance for your patience, input and vital contributions towards wholeness.

• We are invested in decolonial culture that respects Indigenous land relationships, we commit ourselves to education and repair with the land we hold this event on and to offer reparations wherever possible. We acknowledge that our safety on Turtle Island is a product of the genocide and ongoing displacement of Indigenous people.

• We see the current and historical violence being perpetuated against Palestinians and Israelis as abhorrent. We align with calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, releasing all hostages and bringing much needed life-saving food and aid into Gaza.

• We value Jewish safety and flourishing in the world and denounce all forms of anti-Jewishness and uses of Jewish heritage to justify bigotry. 

• We actively invite and welcome our non-Jewish friends, family members, and allies who want to co-create this gathering. We believe diversity is a crucial component to our collective thriving. 

• We unambiguously denounce and oppose all forms of prejudice and discrimination based on race, faith, ethnicity, culture, gender, ability and sexuality. We ask all in attendance at Manna to share responsibility for our collective welfare in this respect.

• We pray that our coming together in ancestral pilgrimage and temporary village brings beauty and healing to our lives and to the land, that we might learn what it means to be a “light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42). We pray that the culture we create together leads us on a path of peace, as individuals and as part of collectives. We hold in our hearts the complex and profound suffering of these times, as well as the opportunities available to us to repair, speak out against injustice and celebrate regenerative ways of being human. 

This prayer statement is adapted from statements by nordic.animism, Wildchoir, JOOL, and our own process of trying to cope in these changing times.