Once inside, another sign tells visitors "We're Blessed by Your Arrival."

 

There are many blessings at the retreat center, formerly known as Camp Isabella Freedman.

 

Located in Falls Village, Conn. -- a part of the town of Canaan - and just over the border from Great Barrington, the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center is a rustic place where Jews of all denominations gather for a variety of programs including family programs, meditation and yoga retreats, and even some plain old R&R.

 

The Retreat Center's Center for Jewish Life and Learning offers year-round retreats and a summer camp for seniors.

 

Located on 400 acres of rich farm land, meadows and forest, and next to the pristine Lake Miriam, the retreat center also is devoted to stewardship of the environment through its Center for Environment and Sustainability. The Center's Adamah Farm offers sustainable, organic agriculture rooted in Judaism and tikkun olam. The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center was founded in 1893 as the Jewish Working Girls Vacation Society, which provided paid vacations for Jewish working women, mostly those working in the New York garment industry.

 

In 1936, Isabella Freedman, a camp board member, bequeathed $25,000 to the camp and it was named in her honor.

 

In 1956, the camp moved from Port Chester, N.Y. to its current home and began primarily serving senior adults.

 

In the early 1990s, the camp opened year round for its variety of retreats. In 1994, the Teva Learning Center, was formed, offering Jewish elementary children lessons in ecology, Jewish spirituality and the environment. ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship was founded in 2003. It offers a three-month fellowship for young adults concentrating on sustainable farming and environmental leadership. (See story on next page).

 

In 2006, the Elat Chayyyim Jewish Retreat Center of Accord, N.Y. merged with Isabella Freedman. Now known as The Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality, it offers Jewish learning and spirituality through retreats led by various rabbis and Jewish scholars and artists, as well as Jewish holiday programming and things like Jewish meditation, yoga, chanting and text study.

 

The camp is also available for rentals for events like weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs.

 

"Isabella Freedman is a place where Jews come to find themselves, find community and find Judaism relevant to their lives in the 21st century," summed up Ellen Carton, executive director of the center. "It offers experiences for the soul through meditation and yoga, experiences in the soil through our farming program and experiences in service through working the land and being in community."