BRIT HaGEVER
A Jewish Men’s Initiation and Ceremonial Training
Are you ready to step into your soul purpose as an initiated man?
Of a younger brother named Jacob, who in his ego-centrism and jealousy, steals the birthright and then the blessing from his brother.
This betrayal sends him onto the crow-feathered road of weariness and challenge.
Running scared and caught in the wilderness alone one night, he dreams of a ladder
and realizes that even here — in the dirt and muck of his struggle — God is present.
Years later, his estranged twin approaches, so he crosses the river Yabbok.
His crossing is his reckoning, and there he is seized by an angel —
Some say its his shadow, perhaps his twin, the parts he has avoided his whole life.
Through a long night, he wrestles — refusing to shrink or flee — he faces it all, he is injured, and he breaks through to be blessed with his true name:
Israel — “he who wrestle with the Holy.”
The Torah shares an old story…
Just as Jacob crossed the river to meet all that he could no longer avoid,
every man eventually arrives at his own threshold—
the moment when wilderness calls,
the angel steps forward,
and the soul demands nothing less than transformation.
Are you ready to cross the river of grief?
Ready to move beyond outdated patterns?
Has your old life become too small for who you are becoming?
Do you feel the pull to step into your rightful place here on Earth?
We are in a cultural crisis of suspended adolescence
Cultures across the world embraced adulthood initiation rites as a key to cultural renewal.
We now bring this to Judaism.
We now stand at a threshold -
a moment when the old stories must come alive again.
To heal our culture, we must initiate our men.
Join us for a yearlong Jewish Men’s Initiation & Ceremonial Training specifically designed to re-awaken the initiatory pathways of power, prayer, and service long dormant in Jewish men.
This year-long hybrid (in-person/online) training begins with our first in-person immersion February 25-29, 2026.
Now accepting applications
In a world that neglects initiation…
This training offers a rare, ceremonial path of evolution—restoring the ancient architecture of transformation through earth-based ritual and initiatory practice rooted in Jewish lineage.
Held by mentors, elders, wilderness, and more-than-human allies,
you will be carried through a sequence of ritual thresholds
designed to root you in soul, service, and sacred responsibility.
Imagine if…
You were held in a circle who saw your soul, spoke to your essence, and refused to let you collapse into old patterns.
You met your shadow the way our ancestors met angels in the night - wrestling until the blessing revealed itself.
The grief, rupture, and ancestral ache you carry became a doorway into initiation, no longer a burden to hide.
You stepped beyond the endless loop of “fixing yourself” and into a life aligned with covenant, service, and soul.
You felt the Wild return to your body - fire, earth, breath, and prayer - awakening old songs buried in your blood.
Ancient Jewish rites became living ceremonies again, marking your thresholds with truth, presence, and holiness.
Dreams, synchronicities, and the unseen began speaking to you as the Mystery once spoke to prophets and wanderers.
You awakened to your soul work - and felt yourself woven back into the story of your people.
WHAT THE MEN ARE SAYING
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It is still unbelievable looking back how much we learned and experienced. The leaders taught and guided so many modalities so skillfully.
The stats from the program are pretty incredible. Four of the six men came in single and left in serious relationships. One conceived a child, one had a child born and proposed. One lived through cancer. It can be hard to see how much you are changing as you are changing, but these sort of tent poles show the progress. I feel forever changed for the better. I have experienced a lot of spiritual modalities and programs, and this has been one of the most meaningful.— Joe Greene
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“I had done a lot of work on myself in therapy, ceremony, etc. over the years, and it's not to minimize any of that but this is in many ways on another level.
Working on your growth in a focused and intentional way with a group of men doing the same, held by wise facilitators, for a year, culminating in a profound and challenging rite of passage, is really an apex technology that I feel privileged to have accessed. This container was truly special.”— Jordan Eipper
Men’s Initiation Participant -
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“I went from being a zealous hero to a humble human; from a man always trying to prove myself to one vulnerable enough to be myself; from a defiant rebel to a man capable of standing in my truth while honoring reality in its imperfection.
I couldn’t initiate myself — it took the cultural context of a healthy, earth-based community, the guides, rituals, elders, uncles, brothers, and bonds to bring my soul through into adulthood.
There is a world to serve, and thank god, I have gifts. This journey has been a ritual marking of my commitment to be a man who supports the turning of the great wheel in our trying time with a generosity of presence and heart.— Joshua Reizenstein
Over the course of a year, through in-person and online components, we build through the 5 modules below.
Each module includes: an in-person ritual intensive, 1:1 mentorship calls, group councils & integration homework.
The Journey begins Feb 25, 2026
Is This For You?
If you feel a call from your soul to deeper service . . . and know that another book or weekend workshop is not the answer
This training is for the man who:
Longs for vulnerable brotherhood and earth-rooted ritual.
Knows his season of walking alone is over.
Wants to step beyond self-seeking and into service.
Feels grief, rupture, or ancestral weight calling him toward initiation.
Is ready to confront what is false in him to reclaim what is true.
Feels the pull of the wild, the mythic, and the sacred.
Carries an ache for elders and teachings that were never passed down.
Knows masculinity is sacred - and wants to rediscover it beyond shame or domination.
This journey rises from a deeper remembering - older than any institution, older than exile, older than the breaking of our people.
It comes from the ancient knowing that men must be initiated if they are to become carriers of blessing rather than bearers of harm. In every intact lineage of our ancestors, rites of passage were not optional. They were the very way a culture renewed itself.
For generations, the Jewish world has suffered the absence of this thread. The Temple fell, the priesthood dissolved, the mystics went underground, and our rites became thin. But the need has not vanished. If anything, it has grown.
This container is for the men who feel that call returning - the ache for brotherhood that is honest, the longing for a Judaism that is embodied and earth-rooted, the desire to claim adulthood initiatory pathways for our time. Together, we will descend into the depths, remember what we forgot, and train to stand as builders of culture and keepers of covenant.
You will be asked to confront the patterns that bind you; To listen for the voice beneath the noise; To track the wildness of your soul; To rise as a man capable of midwifing others through their thresholds.
If you feel that trembling yes inside - the one that unsettles something old in you - then good. That is how initiations have always begun.
Come, but not for your own sake alone. As our elder teacher Francis Weller reminds us:
“If you're coming for personal growth, don't bother. Show up for the future generations.”
THE MEN BEHIND
Brit Ha Gever
Rabbi Zelig Golden
Zelig Golden is a rabbi, rites of passage guide, and spiritual mentor devoted to renewing earth-based Judaism and cultural initiation.
Ordained through ALEPH and trained as both an environmental attorney and wilderness guide, Zelig brings over two decades of experience weaving ancestral tradition, ritual leadership, and nature connection.
He is the founding director of Wilderness Torah, where he led seasonal festivals and initiated hundreds through B’naiture, vision quests, and bar/bat mitzvah journeys grounded in the land. Zelig holds a Master’s in Jewish Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, and is known for his deep presence, clarity of transmission, and mythic approach to the sacred work of becoming.
He lives in Occidental, CA with his wife Rachel and their three children, on the unceded lands of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples. He co-led the 2022–2023 Men’s Initiation Journey with John and continues to serve as a ritual elder, counselor, and teacher devoted to cultural healing and the awakening of soul-rooted leadership.
John Wolfstone
John Wolfstone is a Rites of Passage Guide, Initiatory Facilitator, Mythopoetic Educator, and Wilderness Ritualist committed to the remembrance of soul, culture, and Earth.
With over two decades of experience guiding transformative processes, John weaves myth, movement, and ceremony into immersive rites of passage rooted in ancestral wisdom and animist reverence. His work draws from deep study and mentorship in Earth-based lineages, wilderness initiation, and regenerative community practices.
John is the co-director of the award-winning documentary The Village of Lovers, and co-founder of the School of Mythopoetics—a training ground for soul initiation, cultural repair, and ceremonial leadership. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Wisdom Studies at Ubiquity University, focusing on the revitalization of rites of passage for a post-industrial world.
Through his storytelling, ritual design, and grief tending, John guides individuals and communities across thresholds of transformation. His facilitation invites a return to deep belonging - with land, lineage, and purpose - offering maps for becoming trustworthy humans in a time of profound cultural transition.
PRAISE
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“Rabbi Zelig is a spiritual guide whose wisdom flows like living waters—clear, deep, and ever-renewing. When I was a young adult searching for my place within Jewish life, Zelig saw a spark within me long before I did. With unwavering honesty, compassionate presence, and a broad spiritual toolbox, he guided me toward my authentic voice, and encouraged me to embrace my leadership rooted in integrity, vulnerability, and purpose.”
— Rabbi Ariel Wolpe
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“John is at once both a grounding presence and an edge-pusher in his style of Adult Initiation guidance and mentoring. His Ritual and Initiatory literacy combined with tangible middle-world ideas have helped deepen and expand my life while under his guidance.”
— Trevor Mervyn
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“Rabbi Zelig has a wisdom that’s rooted not only in Jewish tradition but also in something deeper, more ancient. Zelig specializes in transmitting direct spiritual experience that isn’t cerebral or heady—something rare in contemporary spiritual landscapes. When I started working with Zelig I was in a bout of depression and directionless. I came out feeling strong and guided as I understood how to walk the path forward.”
— Samuel Weingast
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"I’ve been on a self-guided journey of personal transformation for several years, following breadcrumbs without a clear path. Those breadcrumbs led me to John, who has filled a much needed void as both mentor and guide. Prior to my work with John I spent a lot of time in deep meditation, cultivating a loving awareness that often felt dissociated from my body and disconnected from my grief, my anger and my vitality. John has helped me anchor down, has supported me through the painful dissolution of my marriage, and has helped to spare me many dead ends on the spiritual path. I’m deeply grateful to John for his wisdom, his courage to challenge me when necessary, and his tenderness in holding me when I feel raw."
— Rick Ramirez
Relevant Questions
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The first step is filling out the application below. You will be directed to a calendar to set up a clarity call with John and/or Zelig where you will have a 30 min private meeting to go over any lingering questions and leave with clarity as to whether you’re a fit for this initiatory training.
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We will have 5 in-person intensives, including a 10 day vision quest, one per quarter. Between these intensives, we will meet every 3 weeks (approx.) for either a council or teaching call. Additionally, you will have a 1:1 mentorship call with John or Zelig every quarter, as well as a brother-accountability/check-in call weekly (self-organized). This design is both spacious enough to integrate material, tend to other facets of life and consistent enough to keep a strong momentum.
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Brit HaGever, Jewish Manhood Initiation, is a universal ceremonial journey that is rooted in Jewish lore, prayer, and tradition. All men are welcome, regardless of religious upbringing or beliefs. You simply need to have deep respect for Jewish tradition as well as curiosity and willingness to learn from particular Jewish practices as a means to reaching toward Spirit and universal human truths. In addition to Jewish tradition, we will access spirit and approach ceremony through other indigenous traditions that Rabbi Zelig, John, and the elders and uncles have been initiated into, such as certain Lakota traditions.
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Brit means covenant. Gever means man. Judaism is a tradition of covenants. We are invoking the power of covenant to forge a Jewish pathway into initiated manhood. The power of covenant, the deepest agreements we live by, describes the gravity with which this initiatory journey approaches each man's evolution - a journey of relationship, care, clarity, and transformation.
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Initiation is not about age — it’s about readiness.
Most of us had many initiatory moments - heartbreak, children, success, loss, psychedelics, men’s work, maybe even moments of deep solitude in the wild.
And yet, without a cultural container, with eldership, without witness, without anchored thresholds - without integration and confirmation - these initiations remain incomplete, and the medicine not stabilized.
It takes a great humility to bend towards being held, and some of our most profound men were ones who came to this journey later in life - often as their own rite towards elderhood.
So whether your 18 or 68 - welcome.
You’re needed here. There’s a seat for you at our fire. -
An old mentor of ours once advised - God helps those who help themselves.
It will be possible to skirt through this without a ton of heavy lifting outside of the intensives and live online components, but then, why would you join this if that was your aim?
Each module you will be asked to complete ritual, ceremonial, or facilitator homework, and you will be invited into a slew of different reading, podcast and practice materials.
And you will be deep in your own inner-shadow work, and we will have a circle of brothers holding accountability, and no one will force you to do the work, nor do it for you.
So in short, this will feel like a year-long training that is both intensive and intentionally designed to move at the pace of the body, of the soul and what you can actually integrate. This is not about being a hero, but you will be routinely asked to show up and dig deep. -
The in-person intensives will happen in Occidental, CA.
The Vision Quest will be in the California wilds -
Rather than rolling with an attendance policy, or worse, dogma - this initiatory journey is fundamentally relational.
This journey must be a high, if not top, priority in your life - and we understand that life happens.
Missing an intensive would be hard, but not impossible. Same with any of the online components.
And if you do miss, we will expect that you not just skip or assume that’s kosher without first bringing the issue to the circle of brothers, and having the courtesy to ask to be not present, share your why, and how you will stay committed, supportive and balance the impact of your absence.
If you join, you will be needed, and you must proceed as such. This journey is profoundly not just about you. -
This training is a non-refundable investment. We trust you to make a wise decision that this training is the right fit for you.
A final note from Zelig and John…
Our people’s ancient stories carry both tenderness and ferocity.
They reveal that transformation never happens in comfort —
but in wilderness, in wrestling, in grief, in truth-telling,
and in the places where the Holy meets us without apology.
It is within these crucible moments that a vision began to form for us —
a vision of renewing Jewish adulthood and reawakening the sacred masculine for our time.
A vision not meant to be completed in our lifetimes,
but carried forward as generational work —
work belonging as much to our ancestors as to those yet to come.
This training was born from ritual, study, brotherhood, heartbreak, prayer, and grit.
Born from the bone-deep knowing that there are other men who feel this same pull —
who ache to live a life of covenant, courage, and soul-rooted service.
Men who know the old patterns won’t carry us forward,
and who are ready to step into something truer.
We give thanks for our mentors, elders, and uncles —
those who have walked with us, challenged us, and held us accountable.
They stand with us now, holding this container with the same devotion
and holding you, should you feel called to step inside.
ding you too, as we step forward into this work together.
And so we offer this prayer:
Holy One, guide us.
May we remember who we come from.
May we serve in humility.
May the men who are ready find their way to this work.
And may the Mystery continue to shape us into the ones our people need.
The way is open.
If this is your call, we welcome you.
- Zelig and John
This path of Jewish men’s initiation has taught us more about leadership, service, humility, and integrity than any program, training, or ceremony we’ve ever undertaken.
