A Jewish communal farm--what a great idea!  But, what will it be like and how can we make it happen?  This page attempts to provide some preliminary answers to those questions.  I say preliminary because, ultimately, these questions can only be answered by the group of people who come together to build the farm; and some issues will require considerable research and discussion to resolve.  While I am committed to the principles underlying this project--many of which are shown in the "apples" on the home page--I am open to the details of how these principles are realized.

What I have attempted to do here is to address the more obvious questions and concerns interested folks may have about the idea of a Jewish communal farm.  I have tried to provide enough detail to give people a sense of what they might be getting themselves into by joining, and to show that some of the more obvious challenges can, in fact, be overcome.

If you disagree with something I have written, if you feel an important perspective is missing, or if you have a question or concern that I have not addressed, please let me know.

Who Can Join

The community is open to everyone regardless of race, class, gender, age or sexual orientation.  People with kids are encouraged to join; the same for people with aging parents.  Jews and their non-Jewish partners are welcome.  Non-Jews who are open to participating in a Jewish cultural and spiritual community are also welcome.  We will find a way to make the community affordable for anyone who wants to join. We will also strive to fully include people with disabilities, consistent with the realities of a farm environment.

Location

The location I envision for the farm is in the Hill Towns of Western Massachusetts.  This area is west of the Connecticut River but not as far as the Berkshires proper, bounded approximately by Rowe in the northwest, Colrain in the northeast, Williamsburg in the southeast, and Worthington in the southwest.  It is a land of rolling hills, narrow valleys, and fast, cold streams and rivers, still very rural in character.  Yet it is also within commuting distance of the Five Colleges area, and only about a two hour drive to Boston.  It is a part of the world that deeply touches my heart, and I think it will yours, too.  I could, however, be talked into another rural area of New England, not too far from Boston, if that better served the needs of the group.

Agriculturally, the Hill Towns are home to some of the state's last remaining dairy farms, as well as orchards, sugarbushes (maple syrup producers), and other fruit and vegetable farms.  While much of the farmland is of the hilly, rocky sort for which New England is famous, there are some fertile bottom lands, too.  Also, the neighboring Connecticut Valley, which was the nation's breadbasket until well into the 19th century, contains some of the most fertile soil anywhere in the world.

Number of People

The community should feel cohesive, without feeling claustrophobic.  It should also be large enough to absorb invetiable changes--like death, divorce, or people moving away--without its survival being threatened.  Experience tells me that this means a group of about 25 to 30 adults.  

There may be practical obstacles to achieving this high a number.  There may not be that many people interested in as admittedly offbeat a concept as a Jewish communal farm in Western Massachusetts. It may also be difficult to find a piece of land that will support housing for that many people.  All I can suggest is to have this number as a goal, and see how things go.

Meanwhile, it should be possible to start with a much smaller core group of say six to eight people, and grow from there as the community develops some momentum and word spreads.

The Farm

I envision what would essentially be a subsistence farm.  That means growing not only fruits and vegetables, but also grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, as well as dairy and eggs, and possibly poultry & meat (to the extent that people want animal foods).  Of course, we would still buy some food at the grocery store, and we could if we chose also produce a surplus of some crops to share, sell or barter.

Labor

Obviously, building and sustaining a subsistence farm would be a lot of work.  I don't want to be a full-time farmer myself, and my guess is that most people who might be interested in this project would not want to either.  So, how would this work?

My idea is to hire one, two, or more people--either from within the community or from outside--to manage the farm full-time.  Doing so would not eliminate the need for community members to do farm work.  I expect that most people would do some work around the farm on a daily or weekly basis; and all able-bodied members would be expected to contribute during labor-intensive periods such as planting and harvest.

Hiring people to manage the farm will obviously be a significant expense.  On the other hand, growing our own food should lead to major savings.  I suspect that on balance we will be able to pay our full-time farmers a very good salary without a major increase, and perhaps with a decrease, in most people's food budgets--and even more so as food prices continue to rise.

So, exactly how much farm work should members expect to do?  The answer depends largely on the preferences of the people involved, since we will be making the decisions about the mix of hired and volunteer labor ourselves.  I suspect that an average of an hour or two a day, or ten to fifteen hours a week will suffice.  That may seem like a lot, but bear in mind that this total includes the basic household maintenance work such as cooking, cleaning and repairs that most people have to do anyway.  Moreover, people will be able to cover for each other during busy times in one person's life, a safety net not available to most people in individual households.

All in all, I expect that community members will work enough to be engaged in the life of the farm, but far from the point of drudgery or overwhelm.  It may simply be a matter of putting up pickles on a weeknight instead of surfing the web, or spending a Sunday afternoon weeding a corn field rather than puttering around the house.  Moreover, many of these tasks will be social events in disguise, in that they will be done together with others with whom one (hopefully) enjoys spending time.  It is also work that connects people to the land, to the changing seasons, and to other living things.  The farm community is probably best suited to those who would find that kind of work satisfying rather than a burden.

Another concern people may have is whether or not they have the physical capacity to do the heavy labor associated with farming.  While acknowledging that this is a real issue, I believe that with a few full-time farmers and 25 to 30 community members, we will have enough able bodies to accomplish the work that needs to be done, even if not everyone can do the more physically demanding jobs.

There will be a wide variety of vital work in the life of the community, from splitting wood to preparing meals to teaching children to facilitating meetings.  While it will be important to share the most arduous tasks as equitably as possible, I believe that most people will be able to find their niche, and do their share of the work, regardless of their physical capacities.

Additional Farm Enterprises

In addition to the core economic enterprise of the subsistence farm, the community might also consider adding on other types of enterprises. Two that come to mind are a commercial farm operation and a retreat/education center. The advantages of doing so would include being able to provide employment for more members right on the farm, and the satisfaction of expanding our mission to include values such as providing food for others or educating people about sustainable agriculture. The disadvantages, of course, would be the extra time and effort involved, and the additional land and capital required. Whether or not we decide to take on a project of this sort would depend on the needs and interests of the people in the group.

Community

One of the main features of the farm will be living in community with others. Communities provide some wonderful benefits to their members, including a sense of solidarity and belonging, practical and emotional support in difficult times, and the opportunity to develop deep ties of friendship with people outside one's immediate family. Communal living will also look and feel different from the more individualistic and isolated lives to which many of us have become accustomed. Farm members should be people who want the benefits of community and are willing to give of themselves to make it work.

Shared Space

In a communal living situation, some space will be private and some will be shared. The exact balance of shared and private space will be determined by the group, but at a minimum, the shared space should include a large communal kitchen and dining area, some living space, and worship space.

Besides making possible the social benefits of communal living, shared living space has two major practical advantages. The first is that, all things being equal, it reduces per person housing costs. Since we won't have to build a separate living room, family room, home office, etc., (or buy separate dishwashers, washers and dryers, etc.) for each individual or family, we should each be able to enjoy the features of a modern household at less expense per person.

For similar reasons, sharing living space should make household maintenance more manageable, reducing the amount of time each of us has to spend on basic chores and improving everyone's quality of life. Not only will there be somewhat less space to maintain, but we will also be able to pool our skills. Imagine two people, one a great cook and the other an expert at household repair. If they live in separate households, the cook will be burdened with ill-fitting windows and leaky faucets, while the handy person will subsist on frozen entrees and takeout food. Put them in a communal living situation and they will both enjoy delicious, home-cooked meals and a ship-shape household. Perhaps we will even find a community member who does windows.

Even more importantly, people will be able to fill in for each other during times of individual need. A community member dealing with long hours at work or a family crisis need not face the added stress of a household in shambles. The community should have little problem carrying on its basic functions minus the contributions of one or two of its members. A community member going through an otherwise overwhelming period will still be able to eat well and live in a clean and orderly household, which is often not the case for people today. This type of practical support is a major advantage of communal living.

Of course, ensuring that the work of maintaining a communal household gets done in a timely and efficient way will require a good deal of organization, far more than is required for an individual household. On the other hand, in a group of 25 to 30 there are bound to be a few people with strong organizational skills. Overall, I believe that the advantages of communal householding will more than outweigh the increased need for organization.

Private Space

For many, the idea of communal living raises the concern that they will not have adequate private space: What if people are using the living area for a raucous game while I want to read a book? What if I want to have a quiet dinner for two with my partner? What if I just need my own space?

While there is no doubt that communal living will mean giving up some aspects of privacy, people will not have to give up all private space. At a bare minimum, I envision everyone having their own bedroom and living room (with couples sharing a larger space). The question is how to meet the needs of individuals, couples and families for their own space, while at the same time retaining both the social and practical benefits of communal living.

One idea that I think would make it easier to meet both goals would be to build what might be called 'redundant' common space. For example, in addition to the main kitchen/dining area, why not build a couple of smaller kitchen/dining areas as well? That way, if someone wanted to have some friends over for a private gathering, or prepare a romantic dinner for two, they could. Or how about distributing several kitchenettes among the living areas, so that people could have breakfast or a midnight snack without going all the way to the common dining room? Of course, the group could also decide that everyone gets their own kitchen, although that would detract more from the benefits of a communal household.

A related idea would be to build extra spaces that could be used for a variety of purposes. For instance, the same space could be used at various times as a meditation room, a reading room, or a guest room. As long as everyone has a contemplative space to go to when they want one, office space when they need it, and a room in which to accommodate visiting friends, the fact that these spaces are shared shouldn't matter as much.

Another advantage to this idea is that it will give the community the flexibility to accommodate changes in its membership, due to marriages, births, etc. For example, a meditation or office space could be converted into a child's bedroom. There is likely to be some outflow of members as well, but we should build enough extra space to allow the community to grow without causing an immediate need for new construction.

Family Life

One of the advantages of communal living is that people raising children or caring for aging parents will have access to ongoing support from the rest of the community. Kids should benefit from participating in the life of the community, and from getting to know a wide variety of adults. Older folks, who can become isolated living at home, should also benefit from and contribute to community life. At the same time, the presence of people at all stages of life should enrich and give a sense of fulness to the community.

Spiritual/Religious Practice

I see building a community farm as not only an economic and social enterprise, but a spiritual one as well. While there is certainly room in the community for those who are not primarily motivated by spiritual concerns, I hope that most members will be people who feel a strong desire for connection with the earth and with each other, and who wish to explore the meaning of those connections through Judaism. What this will look like in practice will depend on the needs and desires of those in the group, but here are my initial thoughts.

In a way, a Jewish communal farm is a return to our roots. From the farms of ancient Israel, to the shtetls of Eastern Europe, to modern kibbutzim, Jews (or at least many of us) have been farmers, and this agricultural experience is deeply woven into our religious life. The ancient Temple was built on what had been the threshing floor of a farm. The Kabbalists who shaped our modern Friday night service were famous for going out to the fields to welcome in Shabbat. Even today, we celebrate the harvest holidays of Shavuot and Sukkot, and we ask for rain at the appropriate season in the daily Amidah prayer. In seeking out life on a farm, we will in some respects be returning to a way of life more like that of our ancestors, and rediscovering a connection with the land that has informed our religious tradition from its very outset.

I do not, however, see the spiritual life of the farm as a return to the past. I see it rather as an opportunity to bring Judaism vitally into the present. I hope and believe that our daily experience of farming communally will open a rich and exciting dialogue with Jewish tradition; that our agricultural and communal experiences will inform our Judaism as much as Jewish tradition informs our agricultural and communal practices. The world desperately needs to develop a culture of care for each other and the earth. I see a Jewish communal farm as an opportunity to develop and strengthen those aspects of our tradition that can contribute to such a culture.

While I expect an earth-based Judaism to be at the core the community's spiritual life, I also expect the community to nurture a wide array of individual spiritual paths. American Judaism today is nothing if not diverse, and I expect that we will come from a wide variety of religious (and non-religious) backgrounds. I want there to be a place in the community for secular Jews, as well as people from other faiths who feel drawn to our community. I expect that many of us will have had some experience of Eastern spirituality through practicing yoga, meditation or martial arts, and I believe that experience can enhance the spiritual life of the community (my spiritual life has certainly been greatly enriched by my Taoist chi gung practice). I believe that we can create a core spiritual and religious practice that brings us together as a community, while at the same time respecting each other's individuality.

So, what will our community religious practice look like? I am hesitant to supply an answer here, since I think that a practice that meets the needs of the community can only emerge over time, and must be based on our collective as well as individual needs. However, by way of starting a conversation, I will list some of the elements that would be most important to me: following the form of traditional Jewish observance, including Shabbat, holiday and daily services; engaging with the central Jewish texts and the liturgy; being willing to adapt both text and ritual in accordance with values such as feminism, egalitarianism and non-violence; bringing creativity, including non-liturgical elements, into prayer services; allowing our everyday experiences to teach us Torah; keeping some form of community observance of Shabbat and kashrut, while allowing for differences in individual practice; lots of singing and dancing.

Depending on the level of Jewish skill and experience in the group, it may be difficult for us to pull all of this off on our own. Fortunately, based on the response this idea has received so far, I think that there are many people outside the community who will want to help us succeed, and that we will find skilled teachers to guide us. In addition, we may eventually want to consider hiring someone to act as a part-time rabbi, with the goals of increasing our individual skill levels and developing our communal practice.

Financing

A major challenge for a project of this nature is finding the resources to acquire land and build housing.  I am fortunate to have inherited wealth that should allow me to contribute a significant part of the necessary funding.  I expect that others in the group would make contributions as well, appropriate to their financial circumstances.  Land in the Hill Towns is not terribly expensive, so I believe that we will have the financial resources to acquire and build.

I want to acknowlege, though, that the issue of money goes beyond just assembling financial resources.  It is important that everyone in the group participate on an equal footing, regardless of wealth; and it is also important that everyone feel comfortable with whatever financial arragements we make to build and sustain the community.  So, we are going to have to be able to talk with each other openly about differences in power and status in the group that result from unequal wealth, as well as underlying issues of class.  This is an area where outside training and facilitation could be helpful.

Another challenge to communal living is that home ownership is many people's major financial asset.  How will farm members finance their retirement or provide for their children?  This is a complicated question, but here are some ideas that may point the way towards an answer.

First, it is important to realize that, due to the fact that members will be sharing amenities such as kitchens, major appliances, heating and cooling systems, and certain living spaces, housing costs per person are likely to be lower than if people were living in homes or apartments of similar size.  This should give the community some flexibility in financing.

Second, the farm will have significant property value; members could build equity either through making an initial contribution toward land acquisition and building, or through monthly payments.  So far, this looks similar to the down payment and mortgage payments on a house.  The crucial difference is that people will want to cash out their equity at different times, whether upon deciding to move away, at retirement, or by assigning it to their heirs after they die.  The key will be for the community to develop a cash reserve to accommodate this need.

To help accomplish this goal, a third idea would be to adopt a Social Security-like program, where people would make monthly payments into a fund that could then be drawn upon by older members upon retirement, or by their families upon their death.  While this might seem like a lot of monthly payments for people to make, given that housing costs are likely to be relatively low, such an arrangement might very well be feasible.  Also, the group could, if it chose, build in a redistributive mechanism (again, similar to Social Security), where people would receive the same benefit but make differing payments depending on wealth and income.  

Of course, the group could take the much more radical decision to simply pool incomes and property altogether.  While I doubt most people will want to go this far, the point is that the community will be able to make its own decisions regarding the most equitable distribution of costs and benefits, and that the property value of the farm will give the community flexibility in providing members with the financial benefits normally associated with home ownership.