Check out what our alumni have written about their experiences on the farm

Julian W., Melbourne, Australia (Eco-Israel 2, Spring 2009) I felt that I learnt more in the 5 months there than I’d learnt in the 20 years prior. Eco-Israel totally changed my life. I made friends for life – particularly with many of the Americans who I’m still in close contact with. Some of them have made aliyah since the program so I’ll see them next time I’m in Israel.  It has also dramatically affected my life direction – I’m about to go and study permaculture for a year to continue the skills I first developed on Eco-Israel. Since the program I have checked out other eco places around Israel and also in Australia. I had always wanted to get into permaculture and the program confirmed how much I loved it so I’m still doing it today! If the elements of this program are the areas that interest you – i.e. eco-building, gardening, medicinal herbs, herbology, learning more about the Hebrew and Jewish connection to the land, [Eco-Israel] is a wonderful place to start. With Eco-Israel, you’ll be living in a supported environment, alongside wonderful people with the help of financial backing. Plus the peaches are delicious!

Talya O., Boston, MA (Eco-Israel 3, Fall 2009) Baking and breaking bread together, watching seedlings grow into full heads of lettuce, maintaining compost toilets, celebrating rain — living side by side as we do — a natural osmosis occurs... Through course work, informal conversations, and rituals, we wrestle with the meaning of Jewish identity and our common history and heritage. We have found a context for permaculture concepts within Judaism’s roots as an agricultural religion. - From her article Living on the Edge: An Experiment in Judaism and Permaculture Sh'ma, A Journal of Jewish Responsibility

Ben B., New York (Eco-Israel 3, Fall 2009) Eco-Israel was a very valuable experience for me. It helped me chill out about my future. It was incredible being in a place that tried to implement my environmental values and I really enjoyed being a part of the double community on the farm. I really enjoyed the taste of organic gardening, permaculture, and herbal medicine which I got and it helped me decide that this general field is really important for me. And I really experienced the redemptive potential of all these things to create regenerative, healthy small ecosystems. Meanwhile those few months spending more time developing a relationship with the plants and land of Israel and internalizing the importance of being connected to land and place helped me finally feel ready to make Aliyah.

Michelle G., New York (Eco-Israel 1, Spring 2009) Love.  Strength.  Knowledge.  Confidence.   Awareness.  Spirit.      These are all words that come to mind when I think of my time spent on my five month journey with Eco-Israel on The Ecological, Educational Farm, Chava v'Adam.  I attribute my gain in each of these from the nine other awe-inspiring spirts I lived with in domeville, my ever-so-loving and knowledgable madrichim, and most certainly, the holy, thrilling and igniting land we were blessed to have lived on for five months.       Love:  I never would have imagined that ten souls, from ten very different backgrounds states, countries, and experiences, could have come together and created such fire, such a kesher.  Although love between all ten of our intentional community members had always existed, the growth and intimacy of our family sprouted, grew, and then blossomed over the 5 month period.  This came from mutual respect, honesty, communication, and a common desire to see our community flourish...to see garden beds wow us, to see friends take part in a delicious meals together, and to see an ever seeking and questioning spirit arise in each of us.      Strength and Confidence: Having come from a fairly close-knit family, it's always a struggle for me to leave what's constant, ever-loving, comfortable and supportive...my parents and the house I grew up in.  Therefore, living across the waters, in quite an unfamiliar space was one thing, but learning to open up to a new family, under harsh living conditions was certainly another.  Having to figure out how to make our domes more livable, our kitchen space more suitable for cooking, our bathroom more pleasing and how to make winter nights a bit more comfortable, as well as day to day questions such those that pertain to our compost, garden beds, art, working with the Israelis, classes and projects ....all of this, has given me the strength and confidence to look deeper and to question what was once thought as overwhelming.  The farm allowed me to realize that truly, almost anything is possible with the right energy, mindset, freewill and people for support.       Knowledge: I couldn't have asked for two more knowledgeable madrichim.  Nomi and Yigal are not only both experts in their field, but they are truly passionate educators and mentors.  They gave love, energy, and their cultures to each of their lessons.  What stood out for me the most while learning on the farm was that our learning went way beyond the classroom setting.  What we learned in "class," was almost always applied to what our energy could put forth in the field, in our community, and in the way we choose to live our lives.  Our hired educators though weren't our only teachers...in fact, each of us was our own teacher and each other's.  Living in an intentional community so closely and so intensely brought out each of our own skills, passions and ideas, which we were undoubtedly able to share with our community members.  Our guest speakers as well as our trips to the South, North and Jerusalem all were phenonmenal.  Eco-Israel is the epitome of active learning.  I couldn't be more thankful.       Spirit: Life can't get more festive living in paradise.  Having been so blessed, given the opportunity to rise with the sun, sleep with the moon and watch a mind-blowing sunset night after night, spirits move with the wind and go places one didn't know they could arrive at.  We were especially lucky to have had the ability to celebrate holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, and Yom kippur while our time was spent on farm.  What a holy experience, truly living the land, given the opportunity to touch and feel species the Torah speaks of, some of which came straight from the ground right before our eyes.         Awareness: I can say with confidence that being apart of Eco-Israel and given the chance to live on Chava v'Adam has changed my life in ways I am unbelievably grateful for.  My five months spent on the farm has made me more aware as well as given me a greater desire to learn of each factor that plays into where my food, my surroundings, my love, my friends, my religion, my ancestry, my inner spirit and inner being have all come from.