Ravenna Kibbutz 

A Jewish cohousing community in Seattle that features lots of public programming in an environment that is happily disentangled from all religious connotation, despite celebrating all the major (and many minor) Jewish holidays. Annual events include Passover seders, Sukkot hut-building, Big Lebowski showing, and many nights clustered around a Northern Exposure rerun. There are three houses that comprise the main body of the Kibbutz: Aleph, Bet and Gimmel.

The name "Ravenna Kibbutz" is tongue-in-cheek, to a point: no one involved in the Kibbutz fancies themselves a Zionist pioneer. It's merely a cheeky way of identifying ourselves that doesn't sound too fruity. Because "The Jewish Cohousing Development of North Seattle" makes for a crap acronym. The Kibbutz's tagline "Would it kill you to find a nice Jewish commune?" is also tongue-in-cheek, but occasionally offends people.

Are you coming to Shabbes dinner at the Ravenna Kibbutz this week? You'd better be there; it's at house Bet.

Ravenna Kibbutz by Joel Fleishman May 24, 2010