About Us

The Jewish Farm School was formally established in 2005 and sprouted out of a shared vision by its founders to develop educational programming that would foster opportunities for Jews to reconnect with the processes of working the land and growing food. The shared vision consists of a dream of one-day establishing a school that would enroll students who are seeking alternative modes of education. In doing so, the learning would entail farming, animal husbandry, natural building and Jewish learning as well as achieve the necessary requirements for accreditation.

To achieve this dream JFS decided to start small. In 2006, with the help of a mini-grant from Hazon's New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride, we partnered with the Teva Learning Center on their anuual Seminar. In 2007 JFS grew in size to two programs and the first ever edition of a 16-month calendar for sale on our website.

Our hope, with the help of many, is to grow at a steady rate while producing excellent programs consisting of land-based education steeped in Jewish tradition. In 2008 we officially became fiscally sponsored by Hazon. We will be running a number of programs for and with Hillel, Kayam Farm, Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Teva Learning Center and many more.

The Jewish Farm School is a resident group of Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas.