The Potrero Hill Community Center in San Francisco is still ringing with the laughter, song, and meditative silence of 160 young adults who came together from across the Bay Area last night in an unprecedented Tu B’shvat gathering. It was really a blast!

We packed into the Community beyond its capacity (the event beyond sold-out), we drank wine from the four worlds (local, organic, kosher wine from Santa Cruz, CA) and we ate a bounty of fruits from the four directions (literally from all around the world). Even in this room packed wall to wall with tables and chairs, Josh Miller who co-lead the Seder, got everyone on their feet dancing to Tzadik Katimar.

While the Seder followed the traditional trajectory of the four-worlds laid out by the 16th Century Kabbalists, this Seder had a distinctly unique flavor. Everyone brought their own plate and cup. Any disposable dishes were compostable. The Haggadah was printed on Hemp. We meditated on the first fruits. And for each world, we addressed how our environmental choices, particularly our choices around food, square with our tradition to “love your neighbor as you love yourself,” and how we relate to the “Good Land” that was our heritage (Deuteronomy 8:7-10). (Thank You to Hazon for its contribution from the Hazon Food Cirriculum!). It was beautiful to hear folks discuss – some for the first time –whether having the great bounty of fruits from all around the world made sense and whether we, in the modern age, are sufficiently connected to the source of our food. Of course we came to no conclusions, but the schmoozing with ripe with inquiry.

The Seder last night was also unique for bringing together young Jews who never cross paths. I’ve lived in Oakland for almost seven years, and rarely have I had an opportunity to meet with so many Jewish young adults. When I asked Dan Wolf, program manager of the San Francisco JCC’s The Hub – which puts on events and programs for Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s – if he had ever seen a gathering of this magnitude including Jews from all around the Bay, he told me not really, and certainly never for a religious/spiritual event like this.

This gathering was the brain-child of Jeff Levy, a San Franciscan who simply wanted to see young Jews get together and celebrate this precious holiday. Beginning last November with this simple idea, Jeff pulled together young adult leaders from across the Bay Area. By the time the planning was rolling, we had an amazing group sponsoring the celebration: Adamah alumni, American Jewish World Service, Avodah, EcoJews of the Bay, Jewish National Fund, Livnot U’Lehibanot, the New Israel Fund, San Francisco Hillel, The Hub, Tuv Ha’aretz at the San Francisco JCC and Chochmat Ha Lev, Congregation Emanu-El, Hadassah of San Francisco, and the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation.

The First Annual Bay Area Eco Tu B’shvat Seder was a grand success – and marks the beginning of something new in the Bay Area! The Planners have already set the date for the second annual Eco Bay Area Tu B’shvat Seder to be held on Monday, February 9th 2009 at the Women’s Building in the Mission District, S.F. Mark Your Calendars!