Dig out that crusty bottle of vegan wine, pick up a pot of houmous on the way (labled veggie or with hechsher of course)… Yes my darling, you’re off to Wandering Jews.
As the name suggests, Wandering Jews wanders from house to house and if it’s your house it’s your rules making this the most unpredictable of all the minyanim. You could daven for three hours or less than three minutes, be lead through a meditation or through the house in a gimp mask, you just can’t tell and we can’t tell you.
Some nights are dryer than a prohibition summer, others will leave you far too hung over to get up for shul in the morning. You could find yourself offended, exillerated, entranced or just plain bored. Hosts might ask you to drop off food for the pot-luck supper in advance to avoid carrying on Shabbat and may ask for just fresh fruit and vegetables but wherever it takes place, the food will be vegetarian and vegan dishes are encouraged.
Although it occasionally feels like some people have celebrity status, on the whole nobody can tell who has been to every Wandering or none at all. It certainly isn’t a meat market, in three years only one couple has formed and the atmosphere is one of relaxed approachability. It’s not uncommon to meet someone for whom this will be their first Jewish experience in years. Excellent for networking, particularly if you have artistic pretensions and a good start if you’re new to town and want to know what’s going on.
Some words of advice: If a large, overbearing woman pushes you to host, simply say you live with four neo-nazis in a box room no larger than the present host’s downstairs loo. She still won’t take no for an answer but at least you tried.
There are now three areas of wandering, centred on Kilburn/West Hampstead, Finchley and Hackney. Kilburn is your best bet for ‘proper’ davening which can go on for hours but you’ll ‘feel it in your kishkes’. Hackney’s the place for gimp masks and 3 minute services and Finchley is where you’ll find something somewhere in between; statistically this has been more often lead by women, although egalitarianism is common across all three.
The service elements are often quite traditionally based but there is certainly no pressure to push any brand of Judaism and Wandering Jews is entirely independent and run on an existential basis – if no one comes, it won’t happen. A Wandering Jews Creative Commons siddur with transliteration by Michael Grant has recently been developed which makes things more accessible for beginners.
There’s no dress code, wear whatever you like or come naked if it suits. Feel free to turn up late if you’re only there for the food – and if it’s rubbish it’s because you didn’t bring enough. Don’t be put off it all sounds too crusty, it really isn’t. Leave your expectations at the door and if you don’t like it the first time, give it another go because it will be a completely different experience…