The Kibbitz
Columbia Jewish farmers, as well as the folks at Shoresh in Toronto, and others. We work to cultivate the so- cial, cultural, and spiritual well-being of Jewish farmers, and we do that by helping Jewish farmers connect to each other. Most farmers are pret- ty rural, pretty isolated from Jewish community. A lot of them are also pretty alien- ated from Jewish community in vir- tue of having a very different lifestyle than the rest of the Jewish communi- ty. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from a Jewish farmer some version of this story where they say, When I started farming and I went back to my Jewish community, peo- ple asked me what I was up to and I told them I was farming and they said, Jews don’t do that. A lot of people feel really rejected from mainstream Jew- ish community. The story that most of us have been told about what it looks like to be Jewish in the world today is not one that includes the stories of Jewish farmers. The work that we do helps tie them back into the Jew- ish story. Being a Jewish farmer is the most Jewish job there is, because we Judaism is one of the oldest agricultural traditions still being practised today. For me, agrarianism is intentionally stepping into the Jewish flow of time.
I don’t believe in the dairy part, ac- tually. I always say that if there’s ever a custom that has multiple rea- sons for it, none of them are true. They are after-the-fact projections onto existing customs. Do you want to know my agricultur- al reason why? Think about livestock. What do we traditionally eat on Pe- sach? Lambs. This is when lambs are being born. Seven weeks later, those babies have been weaned and there’s dairy available. That’s really cool. I never thought about that. I love hosting Shavuot, having cheese and bread and cheesecakes. Every- body brings a different cheese; there’s lots of butter and lots of fruit. And then we get to the fall. And for me, Sukkot is about so many things, but primarily taking a minute to ap- preciate the hard work of the season and all that we have grown, all that we have produced, and really inhabit- ing that abundance in the space of the Sukkah and living and sitting and eat- ing amongst our harvest. Tradition- ally, they hung garlic and onions and peppers and all of these fruits from the sukkah, beautifying the space and being able to rest in gratitude. That time of year, you still have summer fruit along with the fall things. It is the most abundant time of the year. You run this organization that con- nects Jewish farmers together, who are not necessarily working in a Jewish context, they’re just Jew- ish and also farmers. Tell me about these people and what it means to have a network of Jewish farmers across North America. We’re connected to about 1,800 Jew- ish farmers, mostly in the United States, but definitely a lot in Cana- da, too. We have a bunch of British
are an agrarian people at our core. A third of the Talmud is about agricul- tural law, and our ancestors, our sag- es, had so much to say about how to do agriculture in a way that is regen- erative of self and community and soil. We offer Jewish farmers oppor- tunities to tap into the surprisingly relevant rhythms and technologies of Jewish agricultural thought. Our expectation is not for people to become religious or start “farming Jewishly,” but just to shift the way they think about themselves in the context of the wider Jewish story, believe that they are an essential part of that story and not antithetical to it. What are the options for people who live in cities to contribute in some way to the food system? My recommendation would be to subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture program, which supports your local farmers. CSA subscriptions are such an amazing way to support your local food economy because you are investing in your farmer at the be- ginning of the season. It allows them to buy the things that they need to buy to grow the food that they need to grow, and makes the year a lot less volatile for the farmer. And you are guaranteed to get amazing season- al, well loved, well cared for, often organic produce. It keeps money in your local economy, and it’s relation- al. Some CSAs have a model where, if you are a member of the CSA, you are invited to come volunteer on the farm or you can come pick your own produce. Some even have community events where you get to have a party on the farm with other CSA subscrib- ers. It’s an amazing way to support local food. Our country, our Western society, doesn’t value farmers. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
28 SUMMER 2025
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator