Last Wednesday and Thursday, SAR Academy’s fifth grade embarked on a fantastic overnight trip to Teva. The experience was filled with bonding, learning and plenty of fun.

The adventure began with early morning tefillah at school, followed by breakfast. Afterward, the fifth graders boarded buses headed to the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, ready for two days of outdoor exploration and connection.

Once they arrived, students enjoyed a wide range of activities—hiking scenic trails, engaging in nature lessons, walking along a stream, participating in team-building challenges, playing sports and enjoying delicious meals.

In the evening, the grade gathered for dinner and capped off the day with s’mores around a cozy campfire under the stars.

The Teva trip was a wonderful opportunity for SAR’s fifth graders to connect with nature, strengthen friendships and create lasting memories in the great outdoors.

The post SAR Academy Embarks on Teva Trip appeared first on Adamah.

The project aims to reduce compaction, controls erosion and improve soil biology.

“We are looking forward to making some crop rotations to continue focusing on soil health and sustainability while being able to provide forage for our cattle,” said Lloyd.

In March 2023 the Kent-based land conservancy received an award of $750,000 from the state Department of Agriculture through the Climate Smart Agriculture & Forest Grant program. The program allocated $7 million to agricultural and conservation entities, and NCLC was one of 12 recipients selected for an award.

In 2024 the land conservancy announced 10 implementation grant awardees, and after a final competitive grant round last fall, 15 additional sites were selected. This year’s cohort includes beef, dairy, poultry, fish, forestry, vegetable, fruit and flower farms across Litchfield County and northwestern Fairfield County.

“Connecticut’s farms are in the top three for most at risk of loss in the country,” said the land conservancy’s Executive Director Catherine Rawson.

“Connecticut’s agricultural producers are committed to being part of the climate change solution through on-farm energy, soil health and carbon sequestration projects to further increase their sustainability and resiliency,” said Bryan P. Hurlburt, Connecticut Department of Agriculture commissioner.

High temperatures, more frequent and severe drought and more intense and damaging storms with associated flooding and power outages have been “huge challenges” for the Falls Village-based Adamah, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, said director Janna Siller, who noted that CSA shares are still available to the public at fvcsa.adamah.org.

“The $16,000 we’ve been granted from NCLC will help us adapt by purchasing supplies to improve our resilience to these challenges through greenhouse, field production and irrigation improvements like shade cloth, temperature-neutral insect netting, greenhouse climate control, automation, high tunnel ventilation, a generator for the greenhouse heating system, irrigation upgrades and an electric mower.”

The distribution of the grants, for which the Falls Village farm is “incredibly grateful,” said Siller, comes at a time of great uncertainty for farm businesses.

In addition to Carlwood Farm and Adamah, other Northwest Corner farm grant recipients include: $24,000 to Canaan View Dairy LLC in East Canaan; $30,000 Conundrum Farm in Kent; $8,000 to Howling Flats Farm LLC in North Canaan; $9,000 to The Stead Farm LLC in Barkhamsted; and $3,000 to Wright Farm LLC in Goshen.

The Building Resiliency program also includes funding for 22 climate-smart agricultural assessments conducted by Berkshire Agricultural Ventures.

Later this spring, NCLC plans to celebrate Building Resiliency awardees and program partners with an on-farm celebration.

“Small farms serving local customers like ours have long relied on federal grants like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program, both of which are federal programs that have supported farmers in serving local customers while mitigating climate change and preventing pollution.”

She further noted that federal funding for those programs and many others supporting local farm economies “have been frozen for months and are under threat of drastic cuts in the federal budget.”

In addition to Carlwood Farm and Adamah, the following Northwest Corner farm grant recipients include:

Canaan View Dairy LLC in East Canaan, which will receive $24,000 to purchase a dragline toolbar. This equipment promotes efficient manure application, which reduces nutrient loss and fuel consumption, decreases greenhouse gas emissions and improves soil and water quality.

Written by: Debra A. Aleksinas

The post Northwest Corner farmers aided by climate-smart grants appeared first on Adamah.

FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. (RNS) — In many Orthodox Jewish settings, including the vast Haredi world, strict adherence to Torah and Jewish law has kept many closeted or unable to live openly in synagogue settings. At Eshel retreats they are embraced.

[February 3, 2025] FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. (RNS) — One day into a three-day retreat for Orthodox Jews who identify as LGBTQ+, Zippy Spanjer looked around and liked what she saw.

A 29-year-old from Rochester, New York, Spanjer was experiencing for the first time what has become an annual pilgrimage where Jews with diverse sexual identities can unwind and be themselves.

“I have not found a place where I am comfortable being both Jewish and queer,” said Spanjer. “In the Jewish spaces, you never know how someone’s gonna think about the queer stuff, and in the queer spaces you never know how someone’s gonna think about the religious stuff. And to me, these aren’t diametrically opposed.”

Spanjer was part of a vibrant social scene with other LGBTQ+ students when she was a student at the Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University, and part of the underground Pride Alliance. But since graduating and moving back to Rochester, New York, her social life has suffered.

Here, however, in the scenic foothills of the Berkshire Mountains at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, she was able to celebrate Shabbat, pray, sing, cry and share stories with 96 Orthodox or formerly Orthodox Jews who identify as queer from across the U.S.

“I feel embraced,” she said.

Participants at the retreat, put on by Eshel, a New York-based nonprofit with a mission to build LGBTQ+ inclusive Orthodox Jewish communities, came in all their varied splendor. There were men in yarmulkes and fringed prayer shawls and women wearing body-hugging mini dresses. (Most wore jeans and sweaters, topped with giveaway beanies in pink or black.) There were closeted queer Jews who didn’t want to share their names or photos because they might lose their jobs, custody of their children or relationships with their families if their sexuality was revealed. Others were fully out and married to same-sex partners.

The retreat was a casual affair with multiple ways to participate. One group met over breakfast each morning to study a page of Talmud. Others stayed up late Saturday for karaoke and dancing. In addition to Hasidic pop tunes, they shimmied to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”

“People here experience what it feels like to be whole, and they take that with them, hopeful that they can recreate some of what they had during the retreat in their lives,” said Miryam Kabakov, Eshel’s executive director, a gay Jew who co-founded the organization in 2012. Its name, Eshel, is the Hebrew word for the biblical tamarisk tree.

Queer Jews in Reform, Conservative and other denominations are accepted as equals. In many Orthodox Jewish settings, by contrast, including the vast Haredi world, strict adherence to Torah and Jewish law has kept many closeted or unable to live openly in synagogue settings.

But over the ensuing decade, the Orthodox world has made limited strides toward reinterpreting texts that condemn gay love as a transgression.

In 2012, the Rabbinical Council of America representing Modern Orthodox rabbis withdrew support of Jewish conversion therapy organization JONAH. The rabbis’ official statement said there was a lack of scientifically rigorous studies that supported the effectiveness of the therapies that attempt to change someone’s sexual attraction.

Many Orthodox congregations do not recognize same-sex couples and will offer them memberships individually, but not as a couple or household. Rabbis won’t perform their marriages or even congratulate such engagements with a “mazel tov” as they do straight couples. In 2017, the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale was told to stop announcing same-sex marriages in its Shabbat newsletter or risk losing membership in the Orthodox Union, the umbrella group of Orthodox synagogues.

Transgender people have it even harder. Since Orthodox congregations seat men and women separately with a divider in the middle, called a mechitza, trans people must often sit in the section corresponding to their sex at birth rather than their chosen gender. At prayer services during the retreat, transgender people could sit in whatever section they felt comfortable. Eshel divided the room into three sections: one for men, one for women, and one for nonbinary people.

Eshel pushes for change in Orthodox settings. Over the course of the retreat, participants could attend sessions such as, “Strengthening Personal and Communal Safety,” and “How to Effect Meaningful Change in Orthodoxy.”

“There is a kind of presumption, almost a definitional presumption, that the brand of ‘Orthodox’ doesn’t change,” said Rabbi Steve Greenberg, a co-founder of Eshel who is gay and married. “But the truth is that the tradition has always been in a process of renegotiation and movement in response to changing historical realities, from its very beginning.”

Eshel itself has documented that change. In a recent survey of 278 Orthodox rabbis across the country, the organization found a growing number engaged in discussions about how to welcome LGBTQ+ Jews, even if the institutions with which they affiliate were not quite ready to embrace their lifestyles.

In large cities with sizable Jewish populations — New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia — queer Orthodox Jews can find one or two affirming congregations. Those who live elsewhere often find synagogue acceptance difficult, if not impossible.

Elie Friedman, 37, one of the participants, is one of the lucky ones. A lawyer who works as a public defender in Newark, New Jersey, Friedman is engaged to be married this spring. He and his fiancé, also a lawyer, are both out. Their families are supportive, and they have found a welcoming Modern Orthodox congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where they live.

Friedman, however, recognizes that many other gay Orthodox men are struggling. He came to the Eshel retreat this year to meet old friends and to help those who don’t enjoy the same level of acceptance he has found.

“I’m in a position to also help others, to talk to people, to be a helpful, supportive presence,” Friedman said. (Eshel participants were assigned to small groups that met three times over the course of the weekend to talk about their struggles.)

Friedman thinks the Orthodox world has to accommodate LGBTQ+ people if it wants to have a vibrant future.

“It can be really hurtful to raise a kid in this environment and tell them this is the best life, but then also to know they can’t be part of it,” Friedman said.

At a session on how to fight for acceptance, two Eshel staff offered participants advice on how to advocate for greater rights: Don’t portray yourselves as rebels, they advised. Insist on fairness. Ask for concrete and discrete changes. And perhaps most important — find allies.

Not everyone, though, wants to devote their energies to the fight. Avi Fuld, another participant, said remaining an Orthodox synagogue member became increasingly hard after he came out in his mid 20s. Now married and living with his husband in Dutchess County, about 70 miles north of New York City, Fuld and his husband have decided not to join the county’s lone synagogue in their area. Instead, they have helped birth a grassroots Jewish community of LGBTQ+ and straight families that gets together socially for Shabbat meals, holiday get-togethers and hikes in the woods.

“I’m so disillusioned with Orthodoxy, and that’s why I’ve chosen to create this community for myself that I think embodies a lot of traditional values of Judaism — just without the institutional framework,” said Fuld, who is 33. “I just find that I love the people, and I love the rituals, and I love tradition, but whenever I rub up against institutions, there’s always these red lines: We will treat you equal until a certain point. There’s always a line.”

Shaindy Weichman, another retreat participant, also stepped away from Orthodoxy. She grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg in a Satmar Haredi sect. From the time she was a teen, Weichman knew she was not attracted to men. But she had no way of understanding what that meant, because in her insular Haredi world, sex was not discussed either at home or at school. In keeping with her family’s expectations, she agreed to an arranged marriage two weeks shy of her 18th birthday. By age 19, she was a mother.

In her mid-20s, when she finally understood she was gay, she panicked.

“I was like, oh my God, what do I do now? My life is over,” said Weichman. “There are no queer Jews. If you’re gay, that’s it. You’re done for. You can’t be religious.”

Now 38, divorced and estranged from her family, she knows there are queer Jews, but her break with religious practice feels permanent. She still likes to come to the annual Eshel retreats, though.

At the closing circle on Sunday afternoon, the 96 participants stood up and sang a Hebrew hymn, “Ozi ve-Zimrat Yah,” or “The Lord Is My Strength and Might.” Each one then shared a word about what the retreat meant to them: “grateful,” “blessed,” “connected,” “peaceful” and “happy” were among the words shared more than once.

Finally, Kabakov took a big spool of navy-blue yarn and unraveled it so that every person held a piece of it. Then they cut off a small piece to keep, which many tied on their wrists.

Weichman said she was reminded why she makes the annual pilgrimage.

“Every year at Eshel, I always ask myself, ‘Why are you coming back here? You’re done questioning.’ And when I come back, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah. They love me here.’”

This coverage is presented with the support of the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

By Yonat Shimron

The post Religion News – Adamah Retreat Centers are Welcoming to LGBTQ+ appeared first on Adamah.

Learn more about ReTreat Yourself!

Adamah “ReTreat Yourself!” initiative launches retreats for Jewish Communal Professionals 

Thanks to generous funding from Maimonides Fund, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation, and the Jim Joseph Foundation, Adamah is hosting a series of ten retreats for Jewish communal professionals across the country.

“ReTreat Yourself!” aims to support Jewish communal professionals who devote themselves to creating impactful experiences for others, sometimes at the expense of their own wellbeing. Retreat participants will receive the gift of spending three days in nature away from the demands of their full-time jobs, at no cost to them. The first two retreats were oversubscribed, with Adamah receiving over 250 applicants for 140 spots.

With each retreat capped at 70 professionals, Adamah is planning eight more, to be held at their two retreat centers, Pearlstone and Isabella Freedman, and at other Jewish retreat centers around the country. The next two retreats, scheduled for March 7-9 and August 11-13, 2025, each focus on a different theme: Jewish Mysticism & Meditation and Farm-to-Table for Jewish Educators.

“At Adamah, we believe immersive retreats are a powerful remedy to help heal mind, body and soul. There is nothing quite like it. Experiencing the magic of our retreat centers at no cost is something we are excited to provide to the hard-working leaders of the Jewish community.” 

Jakir Manela, Adamah CEO

ReTreat Yourself! is not modeled after “traditional” professional development where people come together to discuss technical skills directly related to job productivity. In addition to the rejuvenation aspect of the retreats facilitated with guest chefs, massage therapists, fitness coaches, and yoga instructors, these professionals are also given the opportunity to engage in Jewish learning with dynamic scholars-in-residence. The goal is for participants to emerge with a broader network of friends and allies in the field, new Jewish wisdom sources for inspiration, and renewed motivation, passion, and commitment to their work.

The inaugural retreat in September 2024 focused on Elul at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, an Adamah campus in Falls Village, Connecticut, and featured Rabbi Shai Held of Hadar as the lead educator.

“I had a chance to meet with others who shared the same values as me in both professional and personal religious paths. It made me feel like the path I’m on is the right path and gave me strength to move forward with new energy in my work and personal life.” – Lakota Lustig, Engagement Coordinator at Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York

Pearlstone, the headquarters of Adamah in Reisterstown, Maryland, hosted the second retreat in November 2024, with a focus on “The Torah of Nourishment,” featuring Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter of the South Philadelphia Shtiebel as the lead educator.

“I knew my Jewish work could use a renewing replenishing break. I mean, come on, it’s a no-brainer to want to attend. I’m tired of all the things I’ve tried: conferences, workshops, trainings; they’re not designed to be a break, and this is actually a designed break for us, where we can do activities in groups or by ourselves. I believe this has been very healthy for me in multiple ways and the healthier I am, the better I will be at my job.” – Alan Shusterman, Executive Director of Hill Havurah in Washington DC

The post Announcing ReTreat Yourself! 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.

Dear All,

These of course will be unique chagim. The shuls and rabbis are preparing hard, and now is a time to send love to every rabbi, to every cantor, to every leader of a minyan, to every leader of a shul. Elbow hugs to everyone.

Our own pivot has been parallel. Having trialed small Covid-safe retreats at Isabella Freedman, we are now planning to do small retreats for the chagim.

Normally, as you know, part of the essence of Hazon and of retreats at Isabella Freedman is a deep commitment to inclusive community. At Sukkahfest, for instance, there will typically be davening in many different flavors – “orthodox”; “trad egal”; “renewal”; “meditation” and so on. (I use quote marks because each word is only a short-hand and an approximation – often not a very good one – for the davening itself. C’est ca.)

This time around – for capacity reasons – we are stacking, as it were, horizontally rather than vertically. So Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat Shuva/Yom Kippur will be liberal orthodox, led by Rabbi Avram Mlotek and Yael Kornfeld; the first yontef of Sukkot will be led by Rav Claudia Kreiman, the senior rabbi of TBZ in Boston (and will be livecast by TBZ) and will be spirited traditional egalitarian;  and Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah will be Renewal, led by Rabbi Jill Hammer, Shoshana Jedwab, Kohenet Sarah Chandler, and Rabbi Ezra Weinberg.

There are all sorts of protocols – davening outside (or in a big tent if raining); meals separately wrapped – there is indeed a 17-page (!) Covid waiver to sign. And we have had to put our prices up, with essentially no discounts, because our costs are very significant relative to the number of guests we can welcome.

That said – we’re excited. The people who have come for IF Getaways have loved it – and have felt safe, and been impressed with the procedures in place. So – Rosh Hashanah is now already sold out; but there are places available for Shabbat Shuva/Yom Kippur; the start of Sukkot and the end of Sukkot. Freedman is beautiful in September and October. And so if you would like to join us – click here.

The other thing I wanted to share is that, of course, this year’s chagim segue into the elections. Here’s how you can make a difference:

• In May, I talked about the Voter Participation Center. The data is clear it is the single best way to increase the vote for good this election. The Voter Participation Center works brilliantly to register and get out the vote of key demographics who are under represented in voting: people of color, young people, and single women. VPC is aiming to register 500,000 more new voters (they’ve registered 1.1 million already) – and when people are registered, they are overwhelmingly likely to vote. Your donation is one of the most cost-effective ways for you to strengthen our democracy.  Liz and I gave them a gift in May and recently gave them a further gift, and I commend them to you very strongly. (VPC is a non-profit and donations are tax-deductible.)
• Dayenu is encouraging us all to help get out the vote, and info is here. And the Environmental Voting Project offers multiple ways to make sure people are registered to vote.
• Check out also the Big Send from Vote Forward. This is a latter-writing campaign, and it is easy for you to do, anytime, anyplace.

So: shabbat shalom and shana tova. May we blessed to do good, to be good… and to receive goodness.

Nigel

The post (A small number of) you are invited to join us for the chagim at Isabella Freedman appeared first on Adamah.

Dear All,

Wave upon wave of change and challenge.
For the Jewish community, as for the world, there have been overlapping responses since early March. Understanding what this thing was. Changes in behavior, in what you could do, where you could go.
A focus on kids, and on parents.
A whole series of organizational pivots. Health and human services, people in need. Schools, and what should they do? Summer camps, and could they open?
Funding challenges and choices and decisions.
Then Black Lives Matter. (Just as the coronavirus didn’t come out of thin air, “BLM” is short-hand for four centuries’ of inequity that needs to be addressed.)

I start with this because I want to reiterate a stark omission in this list of priorities. “The climate crisis,” which very few people, and very few institutions, have any bandwidth to think about right now, remains the defining – chronic, life-threatening – issue of our time. We care about the coronavirus because it threatens life and health, and because it challenges our normal life. And we care about BLM because we want to live in a world of equity and justice, and BLM makes clear that that’s not the reality for so many people right now. And yet it is against this backdrop that “the climate crisis” – chronic, rather than acute – dwarfs both issues. Choices that will be made in the coming years will be consequential for the life and health of hundreds of millions of people.

So for Hazon, this period has had an extra layer of weirdness. We had to cancel our Hakhel trips to Israel; cancel our planned retreats at Isabella Freedman; cancel our 2020 Israel Ride. But above and beyond that, the key long-term focus of our work – striving to catalyze the American Jewish community to really make sustainability a central commitment of Jewish life – has moved further to the back of the bus. Other than the most dedicated of activists, hardly anyone has time, energy, focus, bandwidth, to think about this issue right now.

But that’s the prelude to my gift, and my invitation to you, this summer.

First: I believe that most people – certainly most people reading this email – want to feel themselves to be on the right side of this issue; to be doing something that is a step in the right direction.

And secondly – and now entirely separately – now is a time, wherever you are, to focus on your health. With all the additional stresses and weirdnesses upon us, the temptation is to… temptation; more booze or more ice cream or whatever you go for.

So that’s why – for both these reasons – I want to invite you to join our 2020 Vision Rides this summer.

It’s a chance to do two things:

1. Give a gift to Hazon (it doesn’t have to be huge….though we’d love it if it is!) and, ideally, ask at least a few people that you feel close to to do so also – because our work is critically important, and one way or another there’s another $360,000 we must raise between now and the end of the year to maintain our core work and programs; and
2. Between now and Labor Day (and, really, between now and the chagim), get active.

Because without any additional fundraising commitment, once you register you have the chance to track miles that you run, or walk, or ride on a bike, and to see others also. We hope and intend it will be a boost and an incentive to push yourself a little, to create or kickstart a commitment to health. And – along the way – an encouragement to bike or walk to the store and not drive there.

So – detailed info is here. If you have questions or suggestions, be in touch.

But – seriously – if you sign up, right now, then (1) you will feel, I hope, that you are at least a small part of the solution; and (2), genuinely, we want to help and encourage you to become more active. There is no better time to start than… right now.

I said in parentheses that there’s a third way we could help you feel better. We are opening Isabella Freedman up for a small (socially distanced) group of people for a season of 5 and 12-day Getaways. The first people are there right now – and it is going well, and smoothly. Freedman is beautiful. The food is kosher, local – and superb. The Berkshires are in full bloom. The lake awaits you. So if you’d like to come up and escape from whatever city you’re in, you can register here. Register before 11:59pm this Sunday, July 19, with discount code “getaway” for $100 off the total price of Getaways.

Finally: we’re in The Three Weeks. Don’t allow this gift of Jewish tradition to be appreciated only by those who are most “orthodox,” however defined. The Three Weeks, like all of Jewish tradition, is a gift, for us to appreciate or not, as we choose. If we embrace it, this is a time to think of destructions in the world, and how human behavior has caused them. It is a time to consciously consume less – no new clothes; no meat; no booze. And it is a time to give tzedakah – to do rightly – and to be extra-kind and considerate to those around you. May it be so.

Shabbat shalom,

Nigel

The post Two ways to feel better this summer (or maybe three) appeared first on Adamah.

Dear All,

I want to explain how and why Freedman has been closed, and also to invite you to join us for an “Isabella Freedman Getaway” – a 5- or 12-night stay at Isabella Freedman. An amazing opportunity to escape from the city – or wherever you are – and hang out in a beautiful place, with kosher food, space for kids, and great hikes, trails and trips nearby.

And I’m delighted, separately, to share with you the launch of a Virtual Camp Isabella Freedman for adults ages 55+, for the week of July 6th – 10th; and to remind you that registration for our first ever cohort of Adamah At Home is now open.

We hope and intend that each and all of these will be very special experiences. To learn more about each, click here for Getaways, here for Adamah At Home, and here for Virtual Camp Isabella Freedman.

To explain how these three programs arose, I want to give an update on Isabella Freedman in the last four months.

On February 25th, we set up a coronavirus task force. On March 3rd, I left Freedman after a superb and impactful Kenissa retreat led by Rabbi Sid Schwarz. And on the morning of March 12th, we closed Freedman…. temporarily. By then the surging of the coronavirus and the new rules in CT meant it was no longer possible to welcome the next group we were expecting.

What was originally a 10-day closure was extended through to Pesach, and then to Shavuot. By last month it became clear that our regular retreats were no longer feasible this year in any form. If we are to gather people at all, it will be in lower numbers, and with social distancing requirements that preclude our normal programming.

The decision to close – and the concomitant loss of well over $2.5m of projected retreat revenues – led us also to cut our staff significantly, and those staff cuts were completed at the start of this month.

All of this is immeasurably sad. We are, of course, just one small casualty of the COVID crisis, and losing a year of retreats, and even people losing their jobs, is not as significant as people dying from this disease. But, nevertheless, it is sad indeed. As one or two Hazon staffers can attest, I personally argued for staying open as a retreat center if we possibly could. But we could not and cannot. To the staffers who have lost their jobs, especially those who have been at Freedman for a long time, we have expressed our gratitude, and I publicly thank each and all of them for helping so many people have such remarkable experiences at this beautiful place. I especially thank Adam Sher, whom so many of you know, who decided to leave at this time, and who has fulfilled almost every conceivable role at Freedman from (literally) pot-washer to General Manager, and Tonia Moody, who first started working in housekeeping in 1986. A huge thank you to Adam and Tonia and to every single person who has left us in the recent period. And, at the same time, we offer thanks and best wishes to Simone Stallman, taking on the new role as Director of Retreats.

And that leads me to the future. For 2021 and beyond, no decisions have yet been taken. As the remainder of this year unfolds, the Hazon board will start to review longer-term choices and options.

For this year, we faced a choice between closing totally (which would mean that even more staff would lose their jobs, and no-one at all would be able to enjoy being at Freedman) or else finding some way to have smaller groups of people come out, in different ways. And that led us to… The Isabella Freedman Getaways.

Our Summer Getaway program is simply an opportunity to ‘getaway’ and enjoy the grounds, trails, pool and lake at Isabella Freedman, as well as the local area – while eating our farm-to-table kosher cuisine. There will be very light programming, including Teva Tuesdays for kids, the chance to visit with and learn about our Adamah program, and probably optional outdoor davening. We will have a large outdoor tent in which we will eat, and tables both there, and indoors if we have to go indoors, will be at least 6ft apart and will be separated by each party.

Our campus is at the peak of its green, lush beauty. We have a new dock at the lake. There are great trails here, and all of the Berkshires around us. This is a chance to get away from the surroundings you’ve been in for the past few months. Rest and relax while you enjoy the outdoors.

I want to add a word about our pricing, by the way. Isabella Freedman is a not inexpensive place to run. We’re providing three supervised kosher meals a day. And our capacity is substantially lower than it was until the coronavirus hit. So our pricing is designed to cover our costs and make a small additional contribution, against the budget hole we still have to close. We do believe that we have priced this fairly, and indeed we hope and intend that this will sell out. But I say this because I want you to know that, in a Maimonidean sense, if you do join us for a getaway, you will, we hope, not only be having a great vacation – you’ll also help us stay in business.

So – registration is now open, to join us at Isabella Freedman for either 5-day breaks, or 12-day breaks. First-come first-served.

Finally, I’m also planning to take a little time off, starting later this week. And so I hope for all of you, and for myself, that we each catch our breath and re-group, after the crazy range of challenges we have faced these last four months. This is the gift of rest – of shabbat –  which the Jewish people introduced into human history. I hope that, in different ways, we may each enjoy different kinds of shabbatot, different kinds of rest, this summer.

All best wishes, chodesh tov,

Nigel

The post Isabella Freedman: an update, and an invitation appeared first on Adamah.

Dear All,

Isabella Freedman is closed as a retreat center, but the state of CT has reduced the minimum period for bookings, which now enables us – next week –  to launch Isabella Freedman Getaways. If you’re interested in coming up and spending 5 or 12 days at Isabella Freedman – with three meals a day of (local, ethical) kosher food, in beautiful surroundings – look out for our email next week.

We similarly had to take the very difficult decision to suspend the Adamah Fellowship for this summer – the first time since the program began, in 2003, when that has been so.
But – but! – we’re now happy and excited to launch a new program: Adamah At Home. The program runs from July 6th to July 26th, and you can send in applications on a rolling basis from now through July 1st. It’s an exceptionally strong program encompassing practical skills, daily conversation and what we hope and intend will be a strong group. We’ll cover Jews ecological learning, garden mentorship, food systems and policy; also food choices, cheesemaking and regenerative farming.

And we’ll also talk about structural racism in this country – because the longer that Hazon has done work on food, and what it means to eat Jewishly in the 21st century, the longer we have looked at food deserts, the impact of federal policy, the weird distortions of the Farm Bill (and the competing values that underpins its different measures) and so on.

And so as well as sharing with you the launch of Adamah At Home, I wanted also to reflect further on events in America in the last few weeks. I wrote last week to say that, properly understood, Black Lives Matter is capable of making this a better country for all its inhabitants. This week I was one of nearly a thousand environmental leaders on a historic call with leaders from the Movement For Black Lives. It included Hop Hopkins, who’s head of strategic partnerships for the Sierra Club, and who wrote a very strong essay a week ago, titled Racism Is Killing The Planet. He’s not just talking about “environmental justice” in the abstract, but giving a sense of how and why the two issues are so closely related. So I commend that to you. And I share with you, below, not just information on Adamah At Home, but also some of the work that Adamahniks have been doing in relation to this topic and some of the things that the leadership of our Adamah team want to share with everyone.

I’d add that, in this fractured and difficult time, not everyone agrees on every topic, and nor should they. Many of you will be provoked and inspired by some of this. Some of you may be disturbed or confused or disagree. That’s ok. Jewish tradition is a journey, life is a journey, and this country is on a journey. So we learn and grow, and what’s been happening this summer is all part of it.

Finally: you know how much I love the calendar and the significance of the calendar. But it’s not just the Jewish calendar. Juneteenth has arisen in recent years to become a significant day in the calendar of this country. I think it almost certain that this year will see the largest celebrations of Juneteenth yet. The protests I’ve attended in the last week or two in New York have been a kaleidoscope of this city – young and old, every color, every background – coming together to try to hold this country to its high rhetoric, to its best aspirations. So I wish you not only shabbat shalom but also happy Juneteenth. This too is a step towards building a healthier and a more sustainable Jewish community and a more sustainable and equitable world for all.

Nigel

PS: This week’s After The Plague is me in conversation with four of the teens from Hazon’s Jewish Youth Climate Leadership board – please join us at noon ET on Sunday.

The post The launch of Adamah At Home, and thoughts about M4BL appeared first on Adamah.

Dear All,

I don’t feel like I have a lot of wisdom right now. This is hard.

The lessons of Jewish history favor moderation, and striving to keep one’s balance. It is relatively easy for societies to become destabilized, and much harder to calm them down again.

And yet, of course, we must also ask: what does “calm them down again” mean? In the sense that the protests are more than justified. Racism – personal, institutional, structural – has been wired into the fabric of this country since its very beginnings, an original sin for which there has been no systematic teshuvah. So this is a year’s rage, a decade’s rage, a century’s rage, and longer still, all boiling over. It is in the nature of being Jewish that we know what it is like to be an outsider, to be scared, to be an immigrant, a refugee, discriminated against. Many of us, most of us, grew up with that in our bones. And so it is unbearable to see persistent racism in this country, unbearable – after slavery, the civil war, a century of lynchings; after Goodman, Schwerner & Chaney… and Eric Garner… and case after case of police killings of unarmed black men… and then George Floyd.

I feel angry and upset – and yet I have a job, a home, savings.
If I were younger – or less white – or less employed – or had less money in the bank – I might not only feel rage or despair, I might also say, what have I got to lose? And things can spiral out of control, very easily, from that point.

There are many times in the last few weeks and months that have been hard. The father of an old friend died, and I just burst into tears. Another friend’s father is still fighting for his life in the ICU – he has been there now for six weeks. For Hazon (on a different plane) we fought to open Isabella Freedman in March, scrubbed and cleaned and planned – lost that fight – aimed to open for Pesach – lost that fight – closed for two months, and hoped to open for Shavuot – lost that fight. We continue to swivel. We continue to strive to do our best. Each day brings new challenges. Staff members, board members, funders, participants, counterparties – everyone is doing their best. I am grateful. But it is hard.

And now all of this. The Hebrew phrase is yesh gvul – there is a limit. There is a border, a boundary, a moment when you say, enough already.

I am a very weird kind of first generation immigrant to this country. I’m not an economic refugee, I’m not a political refugee. I am privileged in many ways. And for some reason I have not one but two degrees in American history. I used to be teased by my friends in England for being so pro-American.

And yet I didn’t really come to America; in a very weird way it turns out that I made aliyah to the American Jewish community. I’m a part of the Jewish people, and I felt clear that when the history of this era is written, two centuries hence, it will be what happens now in Israel, and what happens now in the USA, that will most determine not only the future of the Jewish people, but also what influence the Jewish people has on the trajectory of the world. Will we add new chapters of which to be proud? I don’t know; but the American Jewish community has wealth and power and influence, and we must strive to use it for good. Consciously or not, that’s why I’m here.

I don’t have US citizenship, and for a long while couldn’t figure out why I didn’t – given that, as a Green Card holder, I’m now entitled to it, and have been for some while. And I knew – I could feel – that there was something in me resistant to doing so.

And maybe I will take citizenship or maybe not, and maybe indeed I will live the whole of the rest of my life here. Or maybe not. Many people don’t have that choice, either. (And maybe, of course, I will die tomorrow; we, none of us, know when our time will be up.)

In other news: Isabella Freedman is closed, but we’re going to do a virtual Isabella Freedman retreat this Sunday. We invite you to give a donation if you wish, but there is no charge, and no obligation to do so. Speakers and teachers include Diane Bloomfield (teaching Torah Yoga); rabbis Matti Brown, Yaffa Epstein, Jill Hammer, and Ezra Weinberg; Yoshi Silverstein and Dr. Shamu Sadeh; and many others. This week’s After The Plague will be at noon, as part of our virtual retreat, and my guests will be Rabbi Jill Jacobs, from T’ruah, and our own rabbi-in-residence, Isaiah Rothstein, offering perspective, advice, and perhaps tochecha (rebuke) in relation to the state of this country right now. Do please join us. Click here for registration and more info.

Finally, and in a somewhat weird and disjunctive way, Hazon’s Hakhel project won the Jerusalem Unity Prize this week. If you click here you can see (in Hebrew) the ceremony in which Reuven Rivlin, President of the State of Israel, awards the prize to Hazon staffers Aharon Ariel Lavi and Leah Palmer. I remember the murder of Eric Garner and we saw last week the murder of George Floyd; and many of us also remember the kidnapping and murder of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naphtali Fraenkel in 2014. It felt like the whole of Israel searched for them and prayed for them, and it was in the aftermath of the discovery of their bodies that their families, together with Nir Barkat, then mayor of Jerusalem, established this prize. The idea behind it was, in a sense, let us take this tragedy and find a way to play forwards that which was good, within it – that sense of unity.

And so I end with that thought, with that inspiration. The prize didn’t come out of thin air. We have the fast of Esther (commemorating incitement and the risk of genocidal murder) and then Purim, a celebration which also summons us towards clarity and the journey to Pesach. We have the fast of the first-born (another near-death experience) and then seder night – in which, famously, although we made it through, we commemorate the deaths of our enemies, who did not. Coming up next month we have the three weeks, commemorating the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem – and then we come back to life, and the messiah is born, and six days later a festival of love.

So…. it is a little hard to imagine a festival of love, in this country, anytime soon. The messiah is nowhere to be seen. We don’t have clarity, redemption feels far off, and too many first-born sons have died in this country.

And yet…. ani ma’amin; which is to say, ”I believe….” 

And my “belief,” whatever it is, is not theological. I don’t believe in divine deliverance. I don’t believe in American exceptionalism. But I do, somehow, believe that every Western democracy sooner or later can and should and will find its way back to solid ground. I am blessed not to have been born a Tibetan, abused now for 61 years by the (truly evil) Chinese regime. I am blessed not to live in North Korea, with its forced labor camps and its grotesque totalitarianism. I am lucky, perhaps, not to live in Hong Kong, and thus to fear what the future might hold there, as the Chinese strive to stamp out all forms of democracy. Many tragic things have happened in my lifetime, but we have avoided (thus far) the nuclear war that people feared in the fifties and protested against in the eighties and nineties. The memory of two world wars helped inoculate two or three generations of world leaders from stepping too far into the brink. Black Lives Matter is a slogan which, taken seriously, will help this country be a better country, for all its inhabitants. What is happening now is not just a civil rights issue, it’s a human rights issue. So we must lean in to the justifiable anger, and use it to drive systemic change, in whatever ways we can, just as the knowledge of impending climate crisis can and should cause us to change our ways. And so I believe – I do believe, I choose to believe – that things will be better, and that together we can make them better. That is what Jewish tradition stands for. That is why Hazon exists. Let us, each and all of us, make our own stand for good, this week, this summer, and this year.

Shabbat shalom – and I hope to see you on Sunday,

Nigel

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Dear All,

Normally at this time of year we share updates on our plans for a vibrant summer at Isabella Freedman. As we all know, this year is a different kind of year, and this announcement is a different kind of announcement.

Covid-19 has changed how we will be able to gather for the foreseeable future.

It has become increasingly clear that retreats are unlikely to be able to run with the same participation numbers and pricing that they have in the past, even as Covid cases have begun to fall. As a result, we will be cancelling all retreats through the end of 2020. But even as we cancel retreats, we are hard at work trying to ensure that other programs can still take place at Isabella Freedman.

Our campus is beautifully located. We exist to serve our clients, to offer rest and renewal outside the city, and to do so in a way that nourishes and inspires people. We can’t do that, this year, with our traditional retreats. It may not be possible to do anything at all. But we are exploring whether we can enable at least some people safely to come up to Freedman. If we can do so it will be good for those who are able to come to Freedman, and good also for the institution and for our staff in this time of transition.

So with the understanding that there are many factors that may make it impossible or inadvisable to have guests at Isabella Freedman, we are sending this email to gauge your interest in a socially-distanced option that we are exploring. Please read below and then reply to me or email simone.stallman@hazon.org to let us know if you’d be interested.

First: public health is a primary concern. Currently, CT state guidelines require a minimum stay of 32 days; and they also require the maintenance of social distancing, including no gatherings of more than 5 people for non-essential activities unless those 5+ people constitute one household. Within those parameters, we have begun to explore the concept of Isabella Freedman Getaways – stays in our guest rooms for 32 days or more, which would include meals eaten open-air in our dining tent.

Each family / group would get a suite of two rooms that would include a living and sleeping space and would sleep 4 comfortably. There will be no official programming, and no access to the main building. We expect to offer an optional outdoor “Avodat Lev” service in the morning, and yoga in the late afternoon, in both cases done outdoors and at appropriate distance. Other than that, and some Shabbat programming, this is simply an opportunity to ‘Getaway’ and enjoy the grounds, trails, and lake at Isabella Freedman (we are not currently allowed to open the pool until at least June 20, if at all), as well as the local area – while eating our farm-to-table kosher cuisine. Weekly linen service and light housekeeping will be included, as well as three meals per day, seven days per week, in an open-air tent, with take-away options for lunch. If you are interested, please let us know by June 1st, as we need to gauge the amount of serious interest in this potential offering. On the one hand, capacity will be capped at 18 couples or families; and on the other, this will only be viable if at least 12 couples or families sign up. We have no idea what the demand is and we need to establish that in order to know whether we can proceed.

If you have questions, please email simone.stallman@hazon.org.

We are asking people who would like to come to put down an $1,800 deposit. If for any reason we decide not to proceed, we will return 100% of this to you (and we want to make absolutely clear that we will return that money immediately; there is and will be no request that any part of it be donated.) If we receive at least 12 deposits then we plan to proceed, and housing will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis, up to a maximum of 18 bookings.

Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with questions.

With all best wishes,

Nigel

The post Isabella Freedman Update and Summer Getaways appeared first on Adamah.

Thursday, December 13, 2018 | 5 Tevet 5779

Dear All,

With strong active staff and lay involvement, and support from Project Accelerate, Hazon’s board earlier this year signed off on a new master plan for Isabella Freedman.

Isabella Freedman is a place that touches people’s lives individually and strengthens and thickens Jewish institutions. Through Adamah, Teva, the Hazon Food Conference, and our other national retreats it has had a profound impact across the American Jewish community. As Jessica Haller, one of our senior board members, says, “there are some places that do some of the things that this place does, but there are no other places that do all of the things that this place does.”

So the master plan is critical not only to Isabella Freedman and Hazon but also, in fact, to the future of the American Jewish community. Isabella Freedman is a place where magic happens – but we need to increase capacity; we need to improve the quality and range of our accommodation and meeting space; and we also need more land to be able to grow our flagship Adamah program, and to enable us to use the land itself more lightly and more carefully.

Happily, we believe that we are now on track to start to accomplish all of these goals!

The very first phase of this is to acquire additional property and land right outside Isabella Freedman. It will add new rooms to Isabella Freedman. It will add a new beautiful meeting space. It will earn money for us going forward. And it will add 31 acres to our campus – including, critically, 15 acres that are contiguous with our existing Adamah farm.

Through the generosity of board members and supporters, we now have pledges of $764,500 towards the cost of this purchase. The total cost will be c$1.3m. We have significant naming opportunities available. If you or your family would like to support us in this endeavor – if you would like to give us a gift, as large as you possibly can, please click here to do so, or be in touch directly with me at nigel@hazon.org, or with Richard Slutzky, chair of our Campaign for the Future at cftf@hazon.org.

Huge thanks, warm best wishes, Shabbat Shalom,

Nigel

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The post Big News: Extending the Adamah Farm & Increasing Capacity at Isabella Freedman appeared first on Adamah.