Head to the Berkshires to spend time boating on our lake, swimming in the pool, exploring our nature trails or attending classes. We’ll have arts and crafts, dance and movement, memorable films, talent shows, campfires and lakeside happy hours.
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center has been offering annual summer camp experiences for adults since 1956. We are honored to continue this tradition for adults by providing you with a warm and welcoming atmosphere for one of the best summer vacations you’ll ever have.
Isabella Freedman is Jewish summer camp for adults. What an amazing feeling to have traveled to so far… only to feel like I was arriving home!
Sarah Fife
Note: Our housing options have been simplified from prior years. Standard rooms have private bathrooms. Basic rooms have a single bathroom shared between two rooms. Dorm rooms have bathrooms and showers down the hall.
Partial Stay Options
We have limited availability for partial stay in the dormitory room or as a commuter only.
Scholarships: We believe retreats are important experiences to be shared. Inclusiveness is one of our core values. We strive to ensure that our retreats are as financially accessible as possible. The Tamar Fund makes that aspiration possible – please apply for a scholarship before registering. The Tamar Fund is in loving memory of Tamar Bittelman z’’l. Scholarships are available for the full stay only.
The 2023 schedule is still in development.
Classes and Activities: Throughout the week, the following types of programs will be offered.
Meals: We will serve three meals each full day of your stay. Only dinner will be provided on your arrival day and breakfast on your departure day. Our kitchen and dining room are glatt kosher under supervision of the Hartford Kashrut Commission. Please indicate any special dietary needs when you register. Each guest room / suite is equipped with a mini-fridge.
Prayer Options: We will be holding spirited services on Friday night and Saturday morning over Shabbat. We hope to hold both an Orthodox and Traditional Egalitarian service, although we will determine the nature of our davening based on the needs of our participants.
Musician & filmmaker Laura Wetzler will present the multimedia lecture series, Great Music of Hollywood, perform in concert, and screen her award-winning new film.
Explore the art of film scoring, the evolution of the Hollywood musical, and celebrate some of the greatest songs in film. Discover how movie songs become part of the soundtrack of our own lives in every generation. Laura is a recording artist and filmmaker touring internationally in over 150 concerts and lectures each year, singing critically acclaimed Contemporary Folk/Americana originals, World Jewish Roots Music, and the great classics of American song. Her award-winning indie film, “What Happened at the Veterans Home?” which she wrote, directed, produced, and scored, will have its Connecticut premiere in an exclusive Meet the Filmmaker event at Camp Isabella Freedman. https://laurawetzler.com
Guest Conduct: Each guest will be required to be fully vaccinated. Our specific COVID-related health guidelines will be determined closer to the retreat based on CDC and local health guidance at the time. We ask that everyone abide by these guidelines with regard to social distancing and mask wearing.
Meals: Meals will be served from our buffet inside our dining room. We may ask that guests wear masks while at the buffet for the safety of our staff and other guests.
Mobility Expectations: Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center is an appropriate environment for physically active older adults. Our expectations for campers include:
Miki Raver is delighted to be the Director of Camp Isabella Freedman. Miki Raver has been a Jewish communal professional for decades, including as National Membership Manager for Hadassah, Group Leader, 92nd St. Y, Director of Lifelong Learning, Marin Jewish Community Center. She previously served as Director of Senior Programs at Isabella Freedman in 2008-09. Miki is the creator of Shekinah Circles, a gentle and powerful group process that facilitates connection with the voice of Inner Wisdom. She is the author of She is Wisdom: A Celebration of the Feminine Divine and her critically acclaimed book, Listen to Her Voice: Women of the Hebrew Bible, a Jewish bestseller. She graduated from Emerson College.
Diane Bloomfield is the creator of Torah Yoga and author of the book Torah Yoga: Experiencing Jewish Wisdom through Classic Postures. She is currently working on her new book, Playing with Fire: Secret Torah Doorways to the Inner Self. She lives in Jerusalem where she teaches Torah and Torah Yoga classes live and on the web. Over the past thirty years Diane has taught in many settings in the United States and abroad, including at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Diane has been learning Torah in Israel since the mid-eighties and is a certified Junior level Iyengar Yoga Instructor and a Phoenix RisingYoga Therapist. For more see http://torahyoga.com/
Evelyn Goldberg graduated from Thomas Jefferson University with a degree in Nursing at hte age of 43. Evelyn has written several articles which have been published in nursing journals, including, “When Your Patient Requires a Kosher Diet.” She has been giving presentations on health topics for 33 years, and enjoys helping people to attain and maintain as high a level of wellness as possible. Before becoming a Registered Nurse, Evelyn taught Sunday school for 28 years. She also taught Arts & Crafts and Woodshop at children’s summer day and sleep-away camps. At 58 years young, Evelyn became a Glassblowing Artist, specializing in Flameworking, Fused Glass, and Stained Glass. Evelyn has been married to Bill for 56 years. They have 5 grandchildren and 2 two great-grandchildren.
Micah Becker-Klein serves as rabbi to the Community Havurah in Delaware and Congregation Beth El Bennington, Vermont. He has served as rabbi at Camp Isabella Freedman beginning in 2015. A multi-instrumentalist, he has solo recordings “Walking Humbly” (2003), “Kosherdawg” (2016), and as an original member of “Shabbat Unplugged,” with Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael, they helped produce the Reconstructionist Passover recording “A Night of Questions” (2001). With a love of roasting great coffee with great standards, he is the founder of “Roasting Rabbi Coffee.” Micah is an expert in the field of Kosher food as a mashgi’ach, and specialist in “micro-shechitah.” He acted as assistant editor for the High Holy Day Prayerbook “Kol Haneshamanh” published by the Reconstructionist Press. He is married to Rachel and is father to Sophie and Reuben. More information is at rabbimicah.com and roastingrabbi.com
Laura Wetzler who will present the multimedia lecture series, Great Music of Hollywood, perform in concert, and screen her award-winning new film, is a recording artist and filmmaker touring internationally in over 150 concerts and lectures each year, singing critically acclaimed Contemporary Folk/Americana originals, World Jewish Roots Music in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino, and the great classics of American songbook.
Her award-winning indie film, “What Happened at the Veterans Home?” which she wrote, directed, produced, and scored, will have its Connecticut premiere in an exclusive Meet the Filmmaker event at Camp Isabella Freedman.
Valerie Geffner is a multi-dimensional artist. A Graduate of the Theatre department of The Juilliard School, Valerie has appeared on tv, broadway, many independent films, commercials and voice over work. She is also a performance coach and has taught performance coaching at The Long Island High School of Performing Arts. She is a visual artist , expresses herself with mixed media. She has written and produced her pop opera “antenna” which is on spotify and itunes. Currently working on new music and a theatre piece.
