Rachael Walkins, National Culinary Director – Adamah

Rachael is a dedicated ally and servant leader who has spent the last decade enriching Jewish life at Pearlstone. As a Certified Dietary Manager, she built a strong partnership with the OU and Rabbi Freedman, ensuring the highest standards of Kashrut while leading the hospitality and housekeeping teams with warmth and care. Under her leadership, Pearlstone provided 125,000 emergency response meals during the pandemic, supporting first responders, Holocaust survivors, and families facing food insecurity. She continues to foster community through innovative programs, including Shabbat meals for survivors. In response to rising antisemitism, Rachael implemented guest service and sensitivity training for her staff, deepening allyship and compassion. Her unwavering commitment, leadership, and impact make her a truly deserving recipient of the Outstanding Jewish Communal Professional Award.

The post Congratulations to Our 2025 Outstanding Jewish Communal Professional Award Winner – Rachael Walkins, Pearlstone appeared first on Adamah.

Monday, March 3

By: Jakir Manela

I arrived in Israel a few days ago, and today joined over 40 Adamah leaders for our first-ever Adamah Leadership Israel Mission.

Read More from Monday…

I am so grateful to these wonderful people—Adamah staff, board members, committee members, donors, organizational partners, and allies—for stepping up to be here, to learn, to cultivate relationships, and to build bridges for our people and our planet. It is going to be an amazing week: follow along with our daily blog.

My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.
― Adrienne Rich

This is my second time here since October 7th: I was here last April on one of our Adamah Israel Farm Volunteering Missions as well. There are so many realities about Israel that remain hidden from us as we view Israel through the American media, seemingly impossible to convey yet so important to understand in this moment, especially for those aligned with Adamah’s values and mission. I share just two such observations here:

1. The land and people of Israel are heart-achingly beautiful. Mountains and hillsides, wildflowers and beaches, birds and porcupines and wild boars, rain and wind, sunsets and stars. The Carmel forest, Hof Habonim, Ein Kerem and the Jerusalem forest, and a thousand other places to connect with nature, Creation, community, and ourselves. This past beautiful weekend saw many thousands of Israelis enjoying the outdoors, hiking and picnicking and many other things, connecting with friends and family, enjoying life and each other. To be here, on this land with our ancestral memories and connections embedded within us—even with all the pain—is truly a gift. The vast majority of Jewish history has unfolded without our ability to set foot on this sacred ground. Even now, amidst this trauma, it is a miracle to be alive and to be here at this time.

2. Israel is a family. To see so many parents and children enjoying themselves outdoors, to see their smiles and hear their laughter, is a testimony to both Jewish and human resilience and the healing power of love and nature connection. As I walk on a trail or sit on a beach here, I feel the tender hearts of everyone around me, and weep silently in awe of their strength, their fierce love for their children, for life, and for this tribal family national experiment: the Jewish homeland. I went into the old Haifa shuk (market) yesterday with friends, and stopped into a store where the savta (grandma) in charge not only tried to sell us some of her wares, but also tried to convince my friends to leave their sleeping 1-year-old baby with her while they go have some quiet time in the shuk as a couple. The haggling over the baby was at least as arduous as any sale that might have occurred. That savta is the norm not the exception, emblematic of the Israeli ethos, reflected last week when over 100,000 Israelis lined the streets nationwide to watch the heartbreaking funeral of the Bibas family.

Over these next few days, our group will be meeting with closely aligned allies here, “cousins” you might say: Israelis and Palestinians invested in peacebuilding through environmental cooperation, Israeli environmentalist leaders of all ages and backgrounds and organizational kinds, climate tech entrepreneurs, municipal sustainability leaders from Tel Aviv and elsewhere, partners from Birthright and the Jewish Agency, and many more. There is no shortage of news highlighting our more distant Israeli “cousins” with whom we may profoundly and angrily disagree, but we cannot and will not allow our minds and hearts to give into despair.

There must be another path forward, and Adamah is committed to helping blaze that trail. We will invest in building bridges and partnerships, for our people and our planet.

“There will not be a victory of light over darkness as long as we do not recognize the simple truth, that instead of fighting the darkness, we must increase the light.” ― A. D. Gordon

L’Shalom – In Peace,
Jakir Manela
Adamah CEO

Tuesday, March 4

By: Jackie Victor

As a long time progressive activist/entrepreneur in Detroit with a deep love of Judaism and lifelong connection to Israel, the opportunity to travel to Israel at this emotional, tenuous and complicated time is balm for my soul.

Read more from Tuesday…

Adamah’s statement of its relationship with Israel describes my heart and my kavannah (intention) for this week:

One of Adamah’s seven core values is Peoplehood & Planethood: building bridges for the Jewish People from Israel and the Diaspora to create a more sustainable future together…We connect like-minded Diaspora Jews and Israelis, fostering cross-cultural connections and collaboration. We believe in peace building through environmental cooperation, aiming to support peace, justice and sustainability for Israelis and Palestinians. We know that there are many viewpoints on this issue; we are committed to empathy, listening and inclusive community as we remain committed to moving forward in this direction.

We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of critical mass. It is always about critical connections.
― Grace Lee Boggs

Today’s theme Peacebuilding Through Environmental Cooperations (PEC) was a profound place to start and a reminder of the power of connections, both regional and global. Our first stop, Wadi Atir, is a hub of innovation in farming, animal husbandry and resource management. which combines the ancient heritage and lost knowledge of Bedouins with research and technology of the future. It is a revolutionary model of sustainability and self-sufficiency, True to today’s theme, it is also a model of building sustainable relationships, as between Muhammed El. Nabari, the visionary of Wadi Attir, Ben Gurion University, and committed Jewish Israelis and Bedouins from the surrounding area in the Negev.

Looking out into the fields of Wadi Attir, with planes from the nearby air base flying overhead, the Director of Wadi Attir shared one example of the significance of these relationships. Following October 7, the olive trees were heavy with ripe olives that need to be picked. Out of desperation and a belief in the relationships that have been forged, a call was made for volunteers to harvest the trees. During this terrifying and painful time, they dared to hope that twenty people might answer the call. In late October 2023, in an event labelled “Harvest of Hope”, 200 volunteers, Jewish and Muslim, showed up to work the land, side by side for the olive harvest. “Working in the ground together, we don’t care where partners come from, their religion nor their politics,” he explained. “Rather, it is through the act of working the land together, that critical connections deepen and new opportunities emerge.”

Our twelve hour day continued in the Negev, to the Al-Furaa Off-Grid Hub: the first off grid school in the country and an innovative project of sustainable water purification and self-determination in partnership with the Arava Institute. From machines which turn air into drinking water (literally!), to self standing units where moss covered sheets help filter human wastewater into water suitable for irrigation, we witnessed the efficacy and large scale potential of these pilot projects as acts of collaboration, sustainability, self determination and local empowerment.

Our day ended with a delicious (kosher!) Iftar (the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan) dinner and powerful conversation with alumni and staff from the Arava Institute Peacebuilding through Environmental Cooperation (PEC) and the Dialogue Forum about the challenges and potential of dialogue between Jewish, Palestinian, Jordanian and international youth. The legacy of over 1900 graduates throughout the decades of this program is inspiring, while it is clear that this is a moment of even more profound challenges for dialogue and understanding.

Exhausted, inspired and left with more questions than answers, the message of Wati Attir Founder Muhammed El Nabari leaves me both humble and inspired. After decades of seemingly impossible collaborations in sustainability throughout the world, El Nabari challenged “Describing problems is an easy way to release energy. The work of solutions, is removing obstacles.” It is my hope and prayer that the visionary people, projects and collaborations we encounter this week, and the connections that we make with them and one another will continue to move us through the invisible fabric of our connectedness…in this exquisitely connected world.

-Jackie Victor, Israel trip participant

Wednesday, March 5

The Promise of Youth
By: Anya Kamenetz

I came to Adamah last year through my passion for the intersection of climate justice and youth mental health, starting with the Shamati program. The second full day of the Adamah Leadership Israel Mission required us to traverse an almost impossibly steep emotional terrain.

Read about the group’s visit to Nova including a poem inspired by the experience here.

Thursday, March 6

Pivot to Tech in Tel Aviv
By Rob Frier

Today, we traveled to Tel Aviv to learn about the climate tech, adaptation and innovation for which Israel is well known.

Read more from Thursday…

Starting with a walking tour of Park Mesila with Dr. Boaz Kedar, Sustainable Planning and Energy Manager for the Municipality of Tel Aviv – Yafo. Park Mesila, formerly a gritty street of parking lots and garages was transformed into a vibrant pedestrian walk/park that leads to the beach. We ended the walk at a public water sports facility on the beach. Most of that facility is below grade with a public space above. The public space is covered with the largest pergola in Israel. The coolest part is that the pergola is covered with an integrated 68kW solar array making the facility net positive (i.e. it generates more energy than it uses).

We were hosted for lunch by Fanta Prada, an Ethiopian Jew and entrepreneur, at her restaurant, Balinjera. We were joined by our sister City representatives in Israel – Sigal for Baltimore/Ashkelon and Eliad from Atlanta/Yokneam.

After lunch, we met with Rotem of Planetech for a stroll through the port of Yafo. Planetech is a network of close to 400 climate tech startups. Through their ecosystem, they match startups with investors and corporate partners as well as identify market needs that startups can address. Rotem is particularly focused on the startups deploying their proof of concept locally. At the port, we saw the demonstration projects for EcoWave Power and ECOoncrete. EcoWave is a grid connected wave energy array. The company recently went public. ECOconcrete is a resilient material that protects marine flora and fauna.

Next we proceeded to the Tel Aviv city hall to meet (by zoom) with Noah Efron, a former member of the Tel Aviv City Council, academic, writer and host of The Promised Land podcast. Noah explained the dramatic evolution of climate adaptation and mitigation in Tel Aviv over the past decade. Tel Aviv has made world class progress in almost every metric including: less cars, more bike lanes, air quality, tree canopy, renewable energy, etc.

After a debrief, we boarded the bus to travel to our next hotel, Maale HaChamisha in the Jerusalem Hills.

-Rob Frier, Israel trip participant

Friday, March 7

By Sarah Davison

We woke on Friday morning at Ye’erim Hotel which is adjacent to Kibbutz Maale HaHamisha. This hotel site is situated quite high on the mountain.

Sunday, March 9

Reflections from Daniella Hirschfeld

Adamah is my Jewish and my environmental home as it weaves together two integral parts of myself. It’s peoplehood and planethood efforts further bring together other layers of me. As such these final two days, dedicated to reflection, represent the culmination of an amazing journey and the beginning of something beautiful and new.

The post Peoplehood & Planethood: Adamah Leadership Israel Mission appeared first on Adamah.

Happy August! Our farmers are harvesting a bounty of beautiful produce and bringing it right to the kitchen. Our terrific food is just one of the many reasons to plan your next retreat or conference at either Isabella Freedman in the Connecticut Berkshires or Pearlstone outside Baltimore, Maryland.

We love customizing our menus to fit your event. From wedding menus to welcome receptions with heavy Hors d’oeuvres, let our creativity help your event shine!  Keep reading to learn more about our two amazing executive chefs who make every meal extraordinary.

Staying at Pearlstone or Isabella Freedman is a transformational experience. The unique combination of farm-to-table food, along with lodging, meeting space, warm and professional guest services staff, and the beautiful land creates a nurturing space that inspires groups to connect and grow.

Book your next retreat now; we can’t wait to feed your mind, body and soul.

Eve Wachhaus
Chief Operating Officer

Meet Pearlstone’s Executive Chef: 
Sallie D’Alonzo

Sallie D’Alonzo is a graduate and Fellow of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). She began her career at Restaurant La Terrase in Philadelphia, PA., where her passion continued to develop with like-minded professionals.

She staged with Maitre Cuisiner de France, Christian DeLouvrier at Le Maurice, NY, NY and earned her level III Pro Chef certification in 2010, from the CIA.

One specific highlight of her career was her time as the Vegan Chef at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, making and sharing vibrant, plant-based food to nourish the patients receiving various therapies. This is when she fell in love with this cuisine, and it continues to excite her today. She feels fortunate and grateful to be part of the Pearlstone Center and Adamah where she can continue to share her love of plant-based food, with her team and our community.

Meet Isabella Freedman’s Executive Chef:
Elias Andrade

Elias Andrade is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. Elias brings over 15 years of cooking experience ranging from restaurants, prepared foods, and catering in the Hudson Valley and Tri-State area.

His passion for sustainable and local food is an extension of this experience. Adamah allows him to not only promote these passions and ideals, but it also lets him nourish, educate, and grow within his community.

Our Food Ethic

Addressing food insecurity is an important part of our food ethic. Isabella Freedman and Pearlstone farms each donate $12,000 worth of fresh produce to local food banks each year.

“Our retreat centers are excited to share our renewed Food Ethic that celebrates the diversity of Jewish culture. We’re committed to tantalizing taste buds with a global culinary adventure, showcasing the unique flavors and traditions from Jewish communities around the world.”
-Rachael Walkins, National Culinary Director

How to book a retreat

A few 2024 dates are still open! Contact Heather or Simone for more information. 

Heather Mekiliesky, Director of Sales, Pearlstone

Pearlstone Retreat Rentals

Simone Stallman, Director of Sales & Business Development, Isabella Freedman

Isabella Freedman Retreat Rentals

Testimonials

The food at Pearlstone is simply exceptional. Fresh farm-to-table kosher meals are served elegantly—not an easy task when feeding a large group! The food is not only delicious, but chock full of all of the nutrients needed to take care of your body and enjoy your time while onsite. Many of our participants wished they could eat everyday like they ate at Pearlstone!
–Stephanie Buncher, Events and Retreats Manager, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal

AMAZING food. Huge compliments to the kitchen!
–Anonymous guest in guest survey

The food is fresh and delicious, and the kitchen staff is so accommodating.
–Sarah Sokolic, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Lab/Shul, Inc

My group was astounded by and delighted with the quality, variety and creativity of the food on our retreat. From abundant breakfast options to straight-from-the-farm vegetables to seared tuna, meals were a joyful part of our experience at Isabella Freedman.
–Rabbi David Jaffe, Kirva

The post Our Food Will Nourish Your Body, Mind & Soul appeared first on Adamah.

As the climate emergency becomes ever harder to ignore, American Jewish organizations rooted in social and environmental justice are moving beyond localized efforts to reduce their carbon footprints to advocate for rapid system change—including an end to fossil fuel era.

For many American Jews, it’s hard to make space for thinking about climate change in the wake of October 7 and amid the war in Israel and Gaza. Already before Hamas’s October 7 attack, American Jews had plenty to worry about: rising antisemitism, threats to abortion rights and LGBTQ equality, voter suppression, even the fate of American democracy.

Nonetheless, American Jews, like the U.S. public at large, have become increasingly alarmed about climate change. Climate-related disasters—floods, wildfires, heatwaves and mega-storms—have become a daily reality. Average global temperatures are breaking record highs month after month. Scientists warn that the planet faces a climate emergency and that a catastrophe threatening civilization as we know it can only be avoided with the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, the biggest source of the pollution heating the planet.

In 2014, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reported that eight out of ten Jewish voters said the planet’s climate was facing a crisis or major problem. In a 2020 J-Street exit poll, Jewish voters ranked climate as the second most important issue after COVID-19. In 2020 and 2021, the Jewish Electorate Institute found that climate change was the top issue for Jewish voters, ahead of voting rights and the economy. A 2023 PRRI poll showed that Jews continued to be more alarmed about the climate crisis than any other faith group. 

American Jewish responses to this existential threat include a spate of new books, fresh efforts to organize grassroots Jewish climate activists, increased attention to climate within the Jewish environmental movement. Fresh initiatives abound from leading Jewish institutions, including the national leadership of the Reform movement, the largest branch of American Judaism.

A growing Jewish climate action movement is working to organize people with these concerns as effective climate advocates by drawing on three sources of strength: the Jewish social justice movement, with roots in the Civil Rights campaigns of the 1960s; the decades-long Jewish environmental movement, traditionally focused on nature-based spirituality and localized greening; and the wide participation of American Jews, especially Jewish youth, in the secular climate movement.

…

Jewish Environmental Movement Acts on Climate 

For most of its history, the U.S. Jewish environmental movement focused on outdoor education; nature-based spirituality; and localized greening, reducing a community’s environmental footprint through things like composting and rooftop solar. While these activities remain important in the movement, there is a growing recognition that responding to the climate emergency requires a broad coalition and more pointed advocacy.

This shift has been accelerated by the creation of Adamah, a merger of Hazon, a two-decade-old Jewish environmental group that was itself an amalgam of multiple grassroots efforts, and the Pearlstone Center, an outdoor education campus in Maryland. Launched last year, Adamah (Hebrew for Earth), is the country’s largest Jewish environmental organization. Climate action is one of four pillars of its work, along with immersive nature experiences, environmental education, and leadership development.

Adamah CEO Jakir Manela, who previously led the Pearlstone Center, has organized Adamah’s climate work around three national programs: the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, a growing network of more than 300 Jewish organizations; the teen-focused Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM), which currently has 70 chapters; and Adamah on Campus, a network of university-level student clubs, mostly based at Hillels, which currency has 15 chapters.  

The Coalition brings together organizations such as synagogues, summer camps, Jewish federations, Hillels, and others that “recognize the existential threat and moral urgency of climate change and commit to take action.” Coalition members prepare Climate Action Plans that include goals for reaching net-zero emissions and “mobilizing the community to take other forms of climate action.”

“Adamah has helped to create a broad and deep consensus for climate action unlike any that had existed before in the Jewish community,” Manela said. “Our approach is to get everyone on the bus and help them find ways to take increasingly impactful climate actions year over year.” “The growth of the Coalition has been much more dramatic than we anticipated,” he added. 

Adamah established a Climate Action Fund that has so far raised $1.2 million and disbursed grants and interest-free loans of about $400,000 to support implementation of the Climate Action Plans. Coalition members participate in communities of practice for JCCs, congregations, Hillels, federations, camps and day schools.

Adamah’s guidance for the Climate Action Plans includes advocating for “climate-smart policies” and choosing “organizational investments, endowments, and banking relationships based on their climate impacts.”  For organizations that want to focus on advocacy or decarbonizing their investment holdings, Adamah refers them to Dayenu and other partners. 

“Given our unique scale, reach, and influence as the largest Jewish environmental organization, there is potential and demand for Adamah to do more on climate,” he adds. “We are thinking about that a lot these days.”

Article by Lawrence McDonald.

The post Beyond Greening: Jewish Responses to Climate Emergency appeared first on Adamah.

Spring was on its best behavior with a gentle breeze and temps in the high 60s. Rosemary lemon cocktails and mocktails were flowing, served with fresh, herby appetizers. The Edgewood Community Learning Garden was buzzing on March 27 with plant-loving members of Atlanta’s Jewish community. 

In a cooperative fashion, many hands came together to create the food and spirituality retreat. It was led by Adamah ATL Director Joanna Kobylivker, Adamah ATL Community Program Coordinator Amy Price, and Ma’ayan Spiritual Arts Ritualist McKenzie Wren. Gardeners in the group contributed garlic, garlic flowers, herbs, spring onions, and kale. 

“We invite you to feel about plants, rather than think about plants,” Wren said. 

Before sitting down to dinner, the 35 attendees wandered the garden, practiced a meditation of the senses, and sang with Rabbi Ariel Wolpe as she led prayers to bless the fruit of the earth. 

Sephardic chef Susan Barocas served vegetarian and vegan dish after dish as Nina Rubin acted as her line chef. A Washington, D.C. resident, Barocas is the founding director of Savor, a Jewish food and music experience. She brought Sephardic food into the White House as guest chef for three of President Obama’s Passover seders. 

Barocas ran a waste-free kitchen, using as much of each ingredient as possible. For example, the cucumber slice served with beet hummus as an appetizer was hollowed out and used in the tzatziki dressing at dinner. Materials at the event were compostable or reusable.

Dinner dishes included quinoa with chickpeas, aqua faba (chickpea water), dates, green garlic oil, and chives; fennel braised in fennel stock; Kuku or Quajado, a kugel-like dish made from cauliflower, onion, fenugreek, cumin, parsley, dill, cilantro and eggs; a green salad with carrot shavings, seeds, cucumbers, bell peppers, and lettuces; and Shai Lavi’s tahini. The dessert was baklava with local honey and apple crisp.

Barocas pointed out that nearly every dish on the menu was kosher for Passover. 

“Everything here, provided you eat quinoa, it’s all good for Passover,” she said. “The commandment is to taste the matzah, not eat it 24-7.”

Adamah ATL’s mission is to connect people and planet through Jewish environmental education, climate action, and youth empowerment. The organization’s next event is an Earth Day celebration on April 19 at Mason Mill Park in Decatur.

Photo and article by Logan C. Ritchie.

The post Adamah holds dinner in the Edgewood garden appeared first on Adamah.

We are grounding ourselves in this moment, using our hands to connect to the earth and each other. We are opening our hearts, bodies and minds as we volunteer on Kibbutz Ravid.  Our orientation to this trip is built around three central pillars: responding to the food security crisis in Israel, exploring shared society, and seeking – and searching – for peacebuilding opportunities using environmental cooperation as our lens.

Sunday

Today is our last day together as a group. We checked out of the hotel and got on a bus that said “Bring Them Home” in Hebrew, setting the stage for the day ahead.  

Our first stop was a hotel in the city of Zichron Yaakov, about 20 miles south of Haifa, with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea. Staying in this hotel were 70 family units who have been evacuated from the North of Israel.

These families shared with us how difficult their lives have been, from trying to sort out childcare and schooling, to figuring out how they can continue to work, to how to work together with other families that have also been evacuated and are now sharing hallways in the hotel. If they choose to live in a hotel, the Israeli government pays for their hotel and food. If they choose to relocate on their own, stay with family members in central Israel or rent an apartment, then they receive a financial stipend from the government.

This hotel had a mix of religious and secular families. But they all shared how connected they feel to each other, to the Jewish people, and their shared commitment to return to their homes as soon as it is safe.  

How do you live in a hotel with secular and religious jews together?   

Rachel Siegal

Yitzhak, a religious Israeli man answered, “We are all Jews.” Chana, a secular Israeli woman answered, “Hamas didn’t differentiate between types of Jews.”

We brought all 70 families mishloach manot (treats) for Purim, which they were going to distribute at their Purim party later that evening.  

We met a mother with 4 young children who has been living at the hotel while her husband is on reserve duty. She tells her children the truth about why they’ve been evacuated. Her four-year-old daughter asked about the photos all over the walls (hostage pictures) and so the mom explained to her what they represented, people who were captured and remain in Gaza. Immediately the daughter looked at the photo of baby Kfir, grabbed her baby brother’s hand and said, “I won’t let anyone take my brother.” 

Another woman shared her memory of running to bomb shelters with her grandmother in the 1973 war, and here she is now, living in a hotel with her children and grandchildren. She expressed immense gratitude for what the country is providing to her and her family, even though she misses her home.  

We thanked them for their strength and courage, and they thanked us for visiting. It truly felt like a powerful expression of Jewish peoplehood. 

From Zichron we travelled to Tel Aviv to walk around hostage square, a central location built by volunteers and families of hostages to bring worldwide attention to their plight. There is a piano in the square that anyone can play, and we heard at least 2 people playing and singing. There are tents setup where you can talk to family members and a makeshift tunnel that you can walk through, similar to the tunnels built by Hamas.  

The juxtaposition of being in hostage square during Purim was fascinating and complicated- people dressed in costume, handing out sweets, and people crying and holding each other represented both the joy and the pain of the Jewish people.  

From there, we headed into our final lunch, a talk by Uri from Standing Together. Uri shared the challenges facing the peace movement in Israel. He also shared that he finds hope from looking at examples from history over the last 100 years and how far we’ve come globally for social justice movements.

 We closed our time together with a closing circle, sharing praise and gratitude for each other, for the people who shared with us over the past week, and our prayers for the Jewish people. We sang “Oseh Shalom” and gave hugs all around. 

Saturday

The sun was shining. It was our first day to relax and not get up early to work on the farm. Many of us stayed up late Friday night having tough conversations about the past week.

The waves were calling. Some of us went for walks or sat with our toes in the sand watching the morning surfers. At the same time, Rabbi Julia Appel led a Shabbat morning prayer service overlooking the water. We were mesmerized by the surfers and the waves while expressing gratitude to Gd for this moment, this trip, and our new community within Adamah.  

Before lunch, we met in the courtyard of the hotel for a sharing circle.  Rabbi Sid Schwartz spoke beautiful words of Torah and asked us to share our personal calls to action from this trip.

After a delicious lunch, we had a free afternoon where some of us napped, and others explored Haifa.

In the late afternoon we gathered for a text study session, taking a deeper dive into the Purim story.

Shabbat ended. We did Havdalah.

We then went to a Reform synagogue in Haifa to hear the Megillah. We did Havdalah again with them before the Megillah reading started.

Interestingly, the synagogue community had chosen NOT to read Chapter 9 of the Megillah story, explaining that reading about the violence and human destruction in that chapter did not feel appropriate given the war.    

We enjoyed a free night in Haifa, splitting off into groups and eating in restaurants in town. Our last night of the trip had us all thinking about tomorrow and travel, and also really trying to stay in the present…

Friday

It’s our last day on the farm. Excited for sun, but we encountered rain while getting out of the vans. This rain was nothing compared to the downpours we experienced earlier in the week, so we explored the fields and found some fruit while waiting it out.

There were two tasks to accomplish: painting sunscreen on the bottom of avocado trees and trimming baby mango trees.

After 4 hours in the field, we held a closing circle, where we were all asked to share a one-word reflection. The most commonly repeated words were connected, rejuvenating, amazing, grateful, peaceful and strength. Marina, our Kibbutz Ravid volunteer coordinator, closed by sharing the word “Zika”, which means a deep connection between yourself and something else in the world.

We cleaned up our rooms (lots of squeegees), stripped the beds and said goodbye to our kibbutz friends.

Then we headed to Haifa, where our first stop was Robin Food, a non-profit dedicated to reducing food waste.  The CEO of the organization shared that 1/3 of all food grown in the world goes to waste. Robin Food encourages people to “taste the waste” and “share the spare” through cooking workshops and public events, in an attempt to shift the culture change for home chefs on a personal scale. Their program salvages food from the nearby market and shows people how to not only cook with this extra food, but also how to make it delicious. They make sweet and savory jams and chutneys, and today they were even serving syrupy cocktails for Purim!  

Following a yummy lunch, we checked into our hotel in the Bat Galim area of Haifa. We were greeted with sunshine and surfers, had a chance to dip our toes in the sand, take showers, and some of us even did laundry!

We lit Shabbat candles and then walked to the beach for Kabbalat Shabbat, led by Rabbi Julia Appel.

We enjoyed listening to the ocean waves and headed back for a delicious Shabbat dinner… where we were surprised by a wild boar!

Thursday

Finally, a day without rain! Although the mud still followed us everywhere…Our entire group spent the morning from 6am-noon volunteering in the fields, continuing our work with the irrigation lines in the mango groves.

After a break to refresh and renew, the group enjoyed an outdoor picnic lunch with hummus, falafel and all the fixings! In the afternoon, we met with Sundus Salah, Director of Environmental Sustainability for Heschel Center in Arab municipalities.  Even though it was late in the day and Sundus was still fasting for Ramadan, we enjoyed a long and wide-ranging discussion that included a broader understanding of workforce development in

Arab communities, the disparities between Jewish and Arabs in the Israeli economy, how women lift up economies and educational opportunities, how a university setting is often the first time Arabs and Jews in Israel get to build real friendships, and the challenges and opportunities in pushing sustainability initiatives within the Arab sector.

We had a presentation from Chief Development Officer Rachel Siegal to learn more about Adamah, its work in North America and the “Peoplehood and Planethood” framework of Adamah’s Israel-Diaspora engagement platform, using the earth as common ground.

We enjoyed pizza and salads for dinner, and then headed over to the bonfire for a night of fun and bonding. Our last night on the kibbutz!  Tomorrow we will have several hours of farm volunteering and then head to Haifa…

Wednesday

We woke up to rain. But despite that challenge, we came to volunteer, so volunteer we did! At 6:30am we left in 2 caravans down to the mango groves. We received a safety briefing and then instructions to get the irrigation system working. Our goal for the week is to get all the pipes aligned 6 inches from the trees, removing weeds in the way, and then tying the pipes with twine every 4 trees to keep them in place. If the pipes are too far from the tree, it’s a huge waste of water because it would be watering the weeds. If the pipes are too close, it will stunt tree growth with too much water. A healthy root environment has air and water in the soil, so a specific distance is needed to make sure the trees have air in addition to water.

The mangoes will start growing in May. As summers get hotter and hotter in Israel, completion of the irrigation system is needed as soon as possible. Today we worked in the Lily mango grove.

After four hours of working in the rain, we were transported to an outdoor pavilion to eat the breakfast we packed the night before. Despite being soaked and muddy, some of us took part in Israeli circle dancing, as we waited for the caravans to bring us back to the kibbutz.

Our afternoon hike was rained out, so instead we toured Kibbutz Ginigar’s museum (the kibbutz was founded in 1922).

Then we heard from two alumni of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies – Alma and Zohar, who both now work as urban planners.

The Arava is an environmental and academic institution dedicated to preparing future leaders who can meet the Middle East’s environmental challenges with innovative peace-building solutions and ensure a sustainable future for the region. Since 1996, the Arava has brought together 1,800 Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli, and international students through its university-accredited semester program, affiliated with Ben Gurion University.

Alma and Zohar shared their experiences living and learning with peers from different backgrounds. The Arava Institute was founded on the premise that nature knows no borders. “Living with your ‘enemy’ was a radical thought before coming to the Arava,” said Zohar.

They explained that the Arava gave them a wider perspective and an introduction to the idea of having competing narratives for the same history. “Being there broke the stereotypes we grew up with and we were forced to ask the hard questions,” said Alma.

We asked how they are doing after October 7 with their Arab alumni friends, people they continued to stay in touch with who live in Jordan, Ramalah and Gaza. Are they angry? Can they continue to be friends? They both shared that they continue to be in touch with their alumni group and use their deep listening and active learning skills to maintain these connections.

We asked how they are doing after October 7 with their Arab alumni friends, people they continued to stay in touch with who live in Jordan, Ramalah and Gaza. Are they angry? Can they continue to be friends? They both shared that they continue to be in touch with their alumni group and use their deep listening and active learning skills to maintain these connections.

Hearing Alma and Zohar’s perspectives gave us a lot to think about. Before departing, Alma got on our bus to give us a heartfelt thank you for visiting Israel during this time.

Next, we headed to an Israeli Arab community called Umm Al-Fahm to volunteer with a group of Arab Israeli teenagers.

Amanina is a non-profit organization made up of young adults who twice a week pack and deliver food boxes to families in need in Umm Al-Fahm. We got off the bus and were immediately put into groups with the teenager volunteers. After receiving instructions on what to pack in the boxes, we went into the warehouse to get started.

With teamwork, the groups packed 100 boxes with sugar, flour, oil, and canned goods.

Then the sun was setting and the sounds on the loudspeakers announced it was time for Iftar, the break of the Ramadan fast. The teens all cheered, and we immediately moved the boxes of food to setup tables so we could all eat dinner together.

We said our goodbyes and one of the students came on the bus to say thank you over the microphone.

We left to go back to the kibbutz to get some much needed rest before our 6:00am field departure on Thursday.

Tuesday

It rained! The irrigation system will wait for tomorrow. The good news is we got to sleep in until 8:00 am and our amazing leaders were able to pull together different projects for us to work on in the rain. 

Group A went to work in the greenhouse and the small fields right on the kibbutz. That group cut kale off their stems, grouped them into bunches of 12 and tied them up for packing.

“We were told to toss the bad pieces of kale. I looked at the kale and thought this kale looks better than anything I could buy in Houston. Bad pieces were ones with little holes in them from moles, but really I would eat them all.”

Joy

They did something similar with the celery, but it was pouring at that point so no pictures of the cutting, only the finished bucket.

Inside the greenhouse, a few of us trimmed lettuce stems, packed the lettuce, put stickers on lettuce containers, and filled dirt in rosemary pots.  

Group B was assigned to beautify the area by some of the kibbutz housing. This included digging up weeds, collecting trash, and taking discarded household items to the dump.  

Group C went to paint some of the bedrooms and bathrooms in the kibbutz. This group took their assignment with such positive attitudes, despite some interesting surprises – like a cat hiding behind pillows and jumping off a bunk bed!

While many of us had not envisioned painting or moving old furniture on this trip, we were still so happy to help. As our leaders Gabe and Marina explained to us, this work has been on the kibbutz’s to-do list for many months, and because of us, that list is now complete! 

After lunch we heard from our first guest speaker, Liat Arbel, Head of Urban Sustainability at The Natural Step. She talked about the problem of food waste and the climate crisis. We learned about the path of food waste from agriculture to industry to distributors to consumers. Many of us sat in shame as we watched a video of a strawberry’s life – from the ground to the grocery store, and ultimately to the back of a refrigerator, long forgotten by the family who put it there. The strawberry grows white fuzz and gets thrown out. Has this happened to you? We all know we can do better as the statistics are astonishing – 1.3 billion pounds in food waste every year.  

The second speaker who visited us was Dr. Jeremy Benstein, a founder of the Heshel Center for Sustainability, and current lecturer at the Porter School for Environmental Studies. He spoke about environmentalism and making Israel a sustainable society. But first an overview of the land. While Israel is about the size of New Jersey, it has 2,600 plant species and almost 700 vertebrates, including 454 bird species. As a comparison for size, California “only” has 2,325 species.

In terms of environmental work in Israel, Dr. Benstein broke it out into three paradigms – 1) nature protection, 2) sustainable development, and 3) regenerative culture. These are all things we had talked about as a group earlier in the program – so it was interesting to hear an academic perspective. 

Having two speakers back to back was not part of the original plan but worked out well because it rained all afternoon. We went to dinner in the rain, packed our breakfast for the fields and went to bed praying for no rain so we can do the farm volunteer work we all came to Israel to do!  

Monday

We have arrived!  There are 23 of us from all over North America, including Toronto, California, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland, Washington DC, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. We have 2 Andy’s and 2 Gabe’s and we all love matzah ball soup! 

We met at 3:00 at the Tel Aviv airport and started our two-hour bus ride to Kibbutz Ravid. On the ride, we were briefed on the situation in Israel and practical tips in the slim chance there are sirens that alert us to rocket fire.  

Upon arriving at the kibbutz that overlooks a gorgeous view of the Kinneret, we met with our Adamah Israel Service Trip Coordinator, Gabe Axler, and the agricultural director Marina and two other leaders, Yifat and Coral, who will be our guides on the farms.  

While standing in a circle outside, we learned about the establishment of kibbutzim in Israel and specifically how Kibbutz Ravid was founded. We could see the mata’im (agricultural fields) below a cliff and got a brief description of the work we would be doing… and that we had to be ready by 6:00am to go in the van that would drive us down to those fields.

Everything on the kibbutz is setup in a circular manner (which has been very challenging for some of us – who keep getting lost).  We were briefed on how to get to our rooms, where the dining hall is, and other logistics like how to turn on our water heaters to take a shower. We got our roommate assignments and were sent on our way to unpack. 

After dinner, we met as a group to really start the trip. Although it was clear we were jetlagged, all of us were thrilled to have made the trip and be in Israel… and for one of us, it’s their first time in Israel!  

Marina gave us an overview about how kibbutzim were essential to the foundation of the state of Israel. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, the next generation began moving away from kibbutzim into cities. In response, kibbutzim began to privatize, and as a result there are very few kibbutzim that exist today that run in the socialist model from years ago.  

The story of Ravid, the kibbutz where we are, is a little bit different. In the 1990s, with the crisis of adapting kibbutzim to modernization, a new idea grew. Take the education and collective values from the kibbutz and bring it to the city. So, Kibbutz Ravid, which was abandoned in 1986, was given a chance to rebuild as a kibbutz as an education hub in 1994. 

Upon being rebuilt, it was decided to put the classrooms in the center. While most kibbutzim have the dining hall in the center, along with housing, this kibbutz put its big seminar room in the center. Of course, this makes it even more challenging for those of us who are directionally challenged to navigate! It also means that the housing is spread out all over on the outskirts.  

People travel across the country to come to Ravid for seminars and workshops. There is a pre-army educational program housed here, a technical high school where students work and learn a trade, and a kindergarten for kibbutz members and local families. And last but not least, the reason why we are here is for their agricultural training in the mata’im (agricultural fields), the program that Marina leads.  

Marina, who has been in her role for the last 3 years, explained the uniqueness of her program. Ravid does not import foreign workers like others in Israel do, but rather get labor from volunteer groups of students and youth movements from all over Israel. There are 8 full-time staff members who manage the day-to-day work. Due to the situation in Israel, the gap year student groups have not been coming, half of the staff are in miluim (army reserve service), so we are here to help in their absence. Marina stressed the importance of getting everything to be ready for summer. 

We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of this community. Each of us feels fortunate to contribute and hopeful that our collective efforts will leave a lasting, positive impact. We all left feeling energized and are excited for tomorrow… to work on the irrigation system. Stay tuned!  

The post Peoplehood & Planethood: Israel Farm Mission March 18-24 appeared first on Adamah.

At Adamah Farm in northwest Connecticut, we grow organic vegetables, fruit, nuts, berries, beans, and mushrooms – everything that health and climate experts (not to mention our local bees, birds and fish) tell us should make up a conscientious diet.   

We turn food scraps from the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center where we are located into life-giving compost fertilizer; cultivate flowers beloved by insects that are beneficial to our crops and the ecosystem; and plant trees that capture carbon and store it in the ground while holding precious soil in place with their roots. At this time of year, we intercept sweet sap flowing up and down the awakening trunks of maple trees and boil it down at a ratio of 40:1 to make syrup.   

Our interconnectedness with other species is abundantly clear when you are plucking a fresh berry off the vine with a bee nestling into an adjacent flower or while digging a potato out of loose dirt under the flapping wings of a red-tailed hawk. The imperative to be thoughtful in those relationships through food becomes unavoidable. Join us to experience such clarity for yourself at an Isabella Freedman retreat, or, depending on your stage of life, for the residential young adult Adamah Fellowship program or a week at the Teva Learning Center for Jewish Day schools.   

Of course, you don’t have to schlep far to see plainly your connection to the more-than-human world, to have the experience of having your sight restored, as it says in the morning shacharit liturgy, poke’ach ivrim. You can notice our entwinedness in the opening leaf buds of the tree on your block the first day you wear a t-shirt outside, or in the smell of rosemary wafting from a lichen-covered planter in front of a city building, and you can let it inspire you to choose to connect with the wider world through every bite.

By: Janna Siller, Farm Director and Advocacy Coordinator at Adamah Farm

The post Connecting to the Source appeared first on Adamah.

Jewish community members, anti-hunger activists, and interfaith partners joined Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for the first-ever Jewish American Heritage Month event at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to celebrate Jewish contributions to agriculture and the fight against hunger.

The post USDA Celebrates Jewish American Heritage Month appeared first on Adamah.

This year’s “People’s Seder” was co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and focused on food insecurity.

The post Adamah leads blessing at White House Passover Seder appeared first on Adamah.

The post The JMORE Food Enthusiast with Guest Eve Wachhaus appeared first on Adamah.

Join a robust, intersectional movement from a Jewish perspective! There has never been a better time for working together on behalf of our food future.

A Just and Climate-Friendly 2023 Farm Bill Could Help the Food System…

• bring its emissions to net-zero by 2040
• adapt to a changing climate
• prioritize racial justice
• reduce food waste
• incentivize land, soil, and water conservation
• increase equitable access to healthy, fresh food
• uplift community-led land use and food sovereignty

Seven Ways to Take Action with Hazon’s Farm Bill Campaign

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Advocacy Alert Email

Sign up for our advocacy alert email list. We’ll let you know when your voice is needed without overwhelming your inbox. You don’t have to track the daily twists and turns of food and environmental policy on Capitol Hill in order to be heard!

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Farm Bill Webinar

Watch our webinar to learn more about the Farm Bill and how your voice can make a difference.

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Farm Bill PDF

Check out our supplement to the webinar to understand how critical the Farm Bill is to our food system and how you can weigh in.

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Call Your Representatives

Take a few minutes to call your representatives and ask them to support The Agriculture Resilience Act, a roadmap for reducing emissions from agriculture to net-zero by 2040. This bill lays the groundwork for centering climate action and equity in the Farm Bill process moving forward. Make it easy and quick by using this handy script.

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Rally for Resilience

Join Adamah at the Rally for Resilience March 6-8th in Washington DC! Demand a just and climate-friendly 2023 Farm Bill along with farmers and eaters from across the country.[/tab]

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Next Steps

We will likely have drafts of the Farm Bill coming out of the House and Senate agriculture committees by mid-spring 2023 with votes hopefully coming in the fall of 2023. Keep an eye on your inbox (assuming you’ve followed action step number one and signed up for our advocacy email list) and take action by calling your representatives to demand the passage of a robust bill full of climate solutions and justice initiatives.[/tab]

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Rest! Relax!

You’ve taken six incredible actions toward a more just and climate-friendly food system. Jewish tradition teaches us that the essential work of protecting our beautiful world and of pursuing justice go hand in hand with the experience of pausing to marvel at our profound opportunity to do so.[/tab]
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Building on centuries of Jewish wisdom, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Z”L said that “The opposite of good is not evil; the opposite of good is indifference. In a free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”

Terrible, fixable wrongs exist in the food system. Thirty-five million people in the U.S. confronted hunger in 2019 while 30-40% of food produced was wasted, accounting for millions of tons of unnecessary pollution and trillions of gallons of irrigation water used to no effect.

While Heschel left us guidance on combating indifference and taking responsibility, he also taught us to wake up in the morning and feel the radical amazement of being alive, to seek happiness through wonder. Join us in eschewing the practice of doom scrolling through all that is wrong in favor of the very Jewish twin practices of action and awe.

“When we start to see the choices that are not available, we can begin to see the role of political power in our daily lives. Who decides what options are available for us to choose in the first place?”

– Dr. Leah Stokes, from her essay A Field Guide for Transformation in the All We Can Save anthology.

Want to learn more about the brilliant work being done around food system reform and the opportunities ahead of us? Check out some recommended resources here.

We are grateful to our partners in food system advocacy with whom we work in coalition including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

The post Hazon Farm Bill Campaign: for Justice and Climate Resilience appeared first on Adamah.

The Jewish retreat center and farm is offering a pick-your-own experience in its strawberry fields. The strawberry harvest season is short, Pearlstone said on its website. The center opened its fields to the public for harvesting on May 23, and the season is expected to end early June.

Members of the public can come pick the strawberries Sundays through Fridays. The fields are closed for Jewish holidays and on Saturdays. Picking hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekends, and Pearlstone provides picking buckets.

Attendees will be required to complete a quick health screening in advance and have their temperature taken at the entrance. Masks must be worn when you are within 6 feet of anyone outside your group.

Don’t assume you’ll be able to go strawberry picking, as their availability is dependent on the weather and being picked out. Pearlstone recommends checking their Facebook page for status updates on their strawberries, or signing up for text updates on their website.

The post Pearlstone opens strawberry fields so you can pick your own appeared first on Adamah.