Jews in the Woods (JITW or JitW) also referred to as Fruity Jews or Fruity Jews in the Woods is a privately organized Jewish youth group. It has hosted a number of Shabbaton meetings whereby young Jews gather to observe the Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) in a formalized manner. The group began in New England in 1997 and held its most recent event in Connecticut in 2013. History The group was founded by two friends, Dan Smokler and Dan Zimmerman who sought to create a Jewish community that evoked their Hassidic teacher Josh Lauffer's shabbat gatherings. Zimmerman has also cited the famous gatherings of the sainted Rebbe of Szebreszhin as an inspiration for the gathering. JITW has come to be known for its serene, wooded locations, intense praying and singing, and the musical, lyrical and terpsichorean geniuses who frequent its gatherings. It has been described as both neo-Hasidic and post-denominational. The original gathering in 1997 was relatively small, consisting of friends that the three founders had made at their universities, and on two Israel summer programs: Nesiya, and the Bronfman Youth Fellowships. The following year there were over 100 attendees from the North East and beyond. Following this event, the organizers decided that they needed to limit the size of the gatherings for the sake of intimacy; consequently, future gatherings hosted between 60 and 70 people. In 2000 and in 2001, the JitW gathering was held in Plainfield, MA. Most of the original Jews in the Woods organizers graduated from college in 2001. The following year a gathering was held in New York City with many of the original JITW group. In 2003, Ben Bregman from Brown University, who had been at the pre-hiatus gatherings, decided to organize a return to the woods. Co-coordinating it with Joseph Gindi from Wesleyan University, the two wanted to bring the spirit of the original Jews in the Woods gatherings to their friends. During the planning of this fifth retreat some important changes occurred. Jews in the Woods began to be organized in a more multi-denominational, transparent way. The three-part davening space, known as a "meshlishah" or "tri-chitzah", was introduced as were a variety of compromises designed to make the community increasingly inclusive for participants from all Jewish denominations. This gathering was small but included many of the folks who helped with the rebirth. In the fall of 2003, Brown Students Ari Johnson and