On an unseasonably warm Friday evening, 40 people gathered for a Kabbalat Shabbat service in a grove of redwoods and California live oaks. A group of musicians led the congregation in singing Hebrew tunes as an owl made his presence known from above. The service was part of Makom Shalom, a forest shul that launched during the High Holidays last year and has grown to 83 adult members. Rabbi Zelig Golden leads the nondenominational congregation in rural West Sonoma County — an earth-based Judaism, where congregants are finding a spiritual home outside a traditional synagogue with environmental ideals at the core. “The Jewish soul comes alive in the natural world,” Rabbi Golden said.

Gaia Esensten photo