This Rosh Hashanah, gather with family and friends at Pearlstone outside Baltimore for a transformative musical New Year and Shabbat experience.
Joey Weisenberg brings ancient and traditional melodies along with his original nigunim to infuse the holiday with the sacred soundscapes of Rosh Hashanah and help participants unlock their spiritual and musical potential this new year.
“Joey Weisenberg’s music is hauntingly beautiful and accessible with a deep sense of authentic Judaism and spiritual power.”
Davening led by Joey Weisenberg, Rabbi Aviva Richman, and Rabbi Elie Kaunfer will be complemented by profound divrei Torah and inspiring classes from the Rising Song and Adamah team and our special guest speakers.
Highlights include outdoor nature activities, engaging children’s programming, communal meals, and singing throughout the program.
Immerse in the rich layers of music and meaning that animate the High Holiday season this Rosh Hashanah on the lovely grounds of Pearlstone.
Adamah is committed to diverse, inclusive, pluralistic Jewish community. Both our retreat centers offer kosher food and serve Jews of all denominations and backgrounds (and many non-Jewish groups as well). In response to strong demand for both our egalitarian and mechitza minyanim, for Rosh Hashanah we will be providing an Orthodox Mechitza minyan option at Isabella Freedman.
This gathering is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience Rosh Hashanah in a memorable and meaningful way.
Learn Rosh Hashanah melodies ahead of time so you can add your harmonies. Subscribe to Joey’s High Holiday Master Classes.
Plan to arrive early to start your retreat with a 30-minute meditative hike to Pearlstone’s brand new natural creek mikvah for a guided mikvah experience grouped by gender (times below). Modesty will be respected; bathing suits optional; towels available in our Lodges. Private mikvah available by request.
Whether you’ve participated in the tradition of Jewish ritual immersion or this will be your first time, we welcome you to experience this High Holidays custom in a beautiful natural setting.
Guided Mikvah begins Wednesday afternoon, October 2, at 4pm.
Women’s Mikvah – 4pm, 10/2
Men’s Mikvah – 4:30pm, 10/2
Non-binary Mikvah – 5pm, 10/2
Join our Israel Shaliach Avihay Aharoni for a traditional Sefardi Rosh Hashanah seder with simanim fresh from the Pearlstone farm! Start the new year with blessings.
Hike together to the Pearlstone lake to symbolically cast away our sins in the tashlich ritual preparing spiritually for the New Year.
Drop-off programming for kids ages 2-12 will be offered during the morning davening sessions, and family-friendly activities will be offered in the afternoons. Your kids will love the fun combination of nature activities, singing, and Jewish holiday themes. Stay tuned for more details about Honey Camp 2024!
Mandatory Parent Orientation – Wednesday, October 2, at 6pm.
Connect with Israel in an interactive meditation space to process the year past and look forward with hope to the year coming.
Joey Weisenberg
Musician, composer, and teacher Joey Weisenberg is the founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, which cultivates grassroots musical-spiritual creativity in Jewish community. Joey works to educate and train communities around the world to make music a vibrant, joy-filled force in Jewish life. He is the author of The Torah of Music (2017 National Jewish Book Award) and Building Singing Communities. L’eila, his eighth album of original music, is his latest release on Rising Song Records.
Rabbi Aviva Richman
Rabbi Aviva Richman is a Rosh Yeshiva at the Hadar Institute, and has been on the faculty since 2010. A graduate of Oberlin College, she studied in the Pardes Kollel and the Drisha Scholars’ Circle and was ordained by Rabbi Danny Landes. She completed a doctorate in Talmud at NYU. Interests include Talmud, Halakhah, Midrash and gender, and also a healthy dose of nigunim.
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is President and CEO of the Hadar Institute. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his doctorate in liturgy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was also ordained. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and Dorot Fellow, he has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America. Elie is the author of Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities (Jewish Lights, 2010).
Jakir Manela
Adamah’s Chief Executive Officer Jakir Manela, a recognized leader in the Jewish sustainability movement, was trained as a Teva educator, established Kayam Farm at Pearlstone in 2007, and served as the Executive Director of Pearlstone and as a Hazon board member for nine years. In 2022, he became the CEO of Hazon-Pearlstone, leading the merger into Adamah. Jakir is deeply inspired by Adamah’s amazing team and holy work happening every day. He lives just up the road from Pearlstone with his family, coaches youth sports, and loves night hikes and campfires.
Yoni Stadlin
Adamah’s Chief Program Officer, Yoni Stadlin served from 2008-2021 as founding director of Eden Village Camp, the Jewish environmental sleepaway camp. Yoni’s recognitions include the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize and Jewish Week’s “36 under 36”, and he holds an MA in Informal Jewish Education from JTS. He has traveled extensively as an environmental educator and activist. Yoni lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
Esther Goldenberg
Educator, author, and speaker Esther Goldenberg will share her enthusiasm for and approach to creating modern midrash in fun, interactive bibliodrama sessions. Esther is the author of The Desert Songs Trilogy, a series of biblical fiction novels that give more voice to the women of the Torah and bring forth diversity and inclusion from the ancient stories. She has over two decades of teaching experience and recently moved back to the DMV after living in northern Israel for three years.
Avihay Aharoni
Born and raised in Jerusalem, Avihay is our Pearlstone Shaliach (Israeli Emissary), and enjoys making connections to Israel through songs, stories and music. He will be leading our farm-to-table Rosh Hashanah seder, designing the Israel Connection & Meditation Space, as well as leading a session teaching melodies from traditional Rosh Hashanah piyutim (poetry).
Leora Match
Our Honey Camp Director Leora Match is a nature lover, musician, dancer, and Jewish educator, who is also our Adamah Adventure Camp director. She has over eight years of summer camp experience, worked for four years as the program director for Towson University Hillel and two years in an elementary school in East Baltimore. She loves helping young people cultivate their sense of wonder, curiosity, and, of course, adventure.
Mirra Shapiro
Mirra Shapiro is a Mother, Gardener, Dancer, and life-long learner and will be leading fun and introspective movement classes on Rosh Hashanah themes. She received her B.A. in Dance from Kenyon college in 2008, and has dedicated many years in the practice of small-scale agriculture; growing grains, legumes, seasonal veggies, herbs, perennials, and most importantly: growing soil. Her relationship with nature through the changing seasons informs her relationship to Judaism, to connection, to dancing, and to movement.
We have two main types of lodging – standard rooms feature private bathrooms with one or two queen beds, while the Garden Lodge family style rooms have twin beds and shared bathrooms in the hallway. Children’s rates assume sharing a room with at least one adult (13+), regardless of lodging style. More details about our lodging options can be found here.