New Falls Village rabbi settles in

FALLS VILLAGE — Earlier this year, Steven and Linda Silvern were getting ready to move to the Northwest Corner from Alabama. Steven Silvern is the new program director at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center on Johnson Road.

They were looking for a rental, and they weren’t having a lot of luck. Then a new friend mentioned that someone who runs a bed-and-breakfast in Falls Village was looking for someone to take over for a year.

The Silverns got in touch with Alisa Clickenger at Horse Tale Farm, which is on Route 7 across from the forge.

Everybody clicked, and Clickenger, a freelance journalist who writes about motorcycles, was off and the Silverns were in. Linda Silvern is caring for the comfort of guests at the B and B; her husband is tending to the spiritual care of visitors to Isabella Freedman.

On Friday, Oct. 2, groups of energetic young people were busy preparing for Sukkot (The Feast of the Booths) as part of the autumn holiday observances.

"Sukkot is a celebration of the time spent in the desert," explained Silvern. "The booths represent the housing structures erected in the fields. In the agricultural history of Israel, people lived in a village and worked in the surrounding farmland. At night, rather than trek all the way back to the village, they slept in these shelters or booths."

In addition to being a spiritual retreat, Isabella Freedman is also a working farm. Students come to take part in Adamah, a three-month leadership training program for Jewish young adults that integrates organic farming, sustainable living, Jewish learning, community building and contemplative spiritual practice.

"It’s all about agricultural sustainability, from Jewish text sources," Silvern said.

Residents of the Northwest Corner might know Adamah best from the pickles, pickled beets, sauerkraut and kimchee that are sold at area markets, including LaBonne’s in Salisbury. Their distinctive label announces that they are made by "Young Jewish farmers, changing the world one pickle at a time."

The farm also produces honey and a full line of goat cheese products.

"Right now it’s harvest time. Our fields are overflowing," said Silvern.

The retreat center also hosts postgraduate students from Teva, which focuses on Jewish environmental education.

It’s a busy time for Silvern, a cheerful man — and an ordained rabbi — who has been involved with Elat Chayyim, a spiritual retreat program, and is a former chairman of the board at ALEPH, the alliance for Jewish renewal focusing on scripture as well as environmental and social justice.

So how does a spiritual teacher help others make the connection between spirituality and sustainable agriculture?

"That’s easy," said Silvern. "Just take them out in the fields. When they see the things they planted growing, there is awe and gratitude about this miracle.

"It’s an experiential path to spirituality."

Linda Silvern, a weaver, said the prospect of a Connecticut winter isn’t too daunting, noting the couple spent two years in Wisconsin. "But I was a whole lot younger then."

The Silverns have been married for 38 years. They hail from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.; their daughter, Rebecca, lives in Baltimore, is married and is expecting her first child.

"It’s an exciting time for us," said Linda Silvern.