Gather with Jewish Leaders like Yourself!
As a leader of a Jewish organization, you carry a lot. Come put it down for a minute, with people who get it.
ReTreat Yourself! The Jewish Leadership Gathering
December 6 @ 3:00 pm - December 8 @ 1:00 pm EST
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center (Falls Village, CT) + Google Map
Event Details
December 6-8, 2026 at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center
116 Johnson Rd, Falls Village, CT 06031
(860) 824-5991
Join Adamah for a 3-day experience for Jewish senior leaders to restore perspective, strengthen peer relationships, and deepen leadership capacity.
Leading a Jewish organization requires sustained clarity, resilience, and presence. It also comes with significant responsibility, and often, a sense of carrying a great deal, largely on your own. This retreat offers a rare opportunity to step out of day-to-day demands and spend time with peers who understand both the weight and the privilege of the work.
This intimate retreat is designed for executives of Jewish organizations. Grounded in Jewish values of rest, reflection, and renewal, this experience creates space to recalibrate, strengthen relationships, and reconnect with what matters most, both personally and professionally.
Participation is limited to leaders of organizations with at least five full-time staff and annual operating budgets of $750,000 or more.
Over three days, participants will engage in a thoughtfully curated balance of:
- Peer connection and facilitated dialogue.
- Leadership development and skill-building.
- Jewish learning, ritual, and reflection.
- Time for rest, movement, creativity, nature exploration and informal conversation.
The retreat will be led by Adam Berman—former CEO of Isabella Freedman, Jewish educator, NVC trainer, meditation teacher, and executive coach. Adam will guide participants through a three-part leadership communication workshop, Conversations That Change Everything, focused on navigating high-stakes conversations with greater clarity, integrity, and effectiveness.
Please note: Retreat participants are required to participate in this 3-part workshop (6 hours total).
Participants will leave with:
- A strengthened network of trusted peers
- Practical tools for managing complex leadership dynamics
- Renewed energy and perspective to sustain their work
In addition to structured sessions, the retreat includes delicious, shared meals, time outdoors, and opportunities for both formal and informal connection in a setting designed to support both restoration and genuine exchange.
This is a space to step back, think clearly, and invest in the quality—and sustainability—of your leadership.
We look forward to welcoming you and to give those who give so much of themselves the gift of rejuvenation, a place to be vulnerable, and a chance to have fun.
This retreat experience is fully funded for eligible participants! A $180 fully refundable deposit is required to demonstrate your commitment. Travel expenses to/from the retreat are not covered.
Eligibility for these retreats require participants to have been working full time in Jewish communal service for 2+ years, and in their current role for 6+ months.
For more information, please reach out to Eliezah Hoffman, the Immersive Retreats Project Manager, at eliezah.hoffman@adamah.org or 410.843.7548.
Your Retreat Facilitators
Click the photos below to read your leaders bios.
Adam Berman Bio
Adam’s coaching brings together three decades of organizational leadership, a deep contemplative practice, and a steadfast commitment to values-based leadership.
From 2010–2019, Adam served as the founding CEO of Urban Adamah, a community farm and education center in Berkeley, California. Under his leadership, Urban Adamah built a $16 million campus, and ran programs reaching thousands of participants each year.
From 2002-2009, Adam led the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Northwest Connecticut, transforming the century-old institution into a hub of sustainable agriculture, youth leadership, and creative, Jewish spiritual engagement. His work there planted the seeds for Urban Adamah’s vision and creation.
Alongside his organizational leadership, Adam has been deeply involved in Democratic electoral politics, organizing and fundraising in every presidential election since 2000. From 2018–2024, he served as a fundraiser with Focus for Democracy and more recently has served as an executive coach to the leadership team at Movement Labs.
A devoted practitioner of mindfulness meditation and Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Adam has taught both disciplines for more than two decades. His meditation journey began at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, where he lived shortly after college, and has deepened through continued retreats and study—both at formal centers across North America and in solo wilderness practice under the guidance of his teacher, John Milton. Adam’s NVC studies began in 2009 with Meganwind Eowang; since then, he has taught over 500 students through the Urban Adamah leadership fellowship and beyond.
Adam holds a BA in Environmental Policy from Brown University, an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a certificate in executive coaching from BECI. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.
Adam Berman, Retreat Leader
Yuj Archetype Bio
Yuj Archetype is a multidisciplinary artist and somatic alchemist who transforms sound into a vessel for healing and self-mastery. His musicality defies genre, blending electronic production with acoustic elements like flutes and frame drum to create immersive sonic landscapes. As a vocalist, he demonstrates a remarkable 6 octave range, using low guttural tones and binaural singing to stimulate coherence between the brain, heart, and energetic body. His creativity extends beyond music into movement, dance, and visual arts. His lifestyle is rooted in holistic wellness, leading qigong, movement disciplines, yoga, live performances, sound baths, and guided meditations. Yuj describes his purpose as being a “bridge” believing that true fulfillment dissolves separation between the individual and collective. He has shared his gifts in sacred plant ceremonies, immersive rituals, night-life and wellness events. Ultimately, Yuj’s devotion is in self-mastery, teaching others in building systems and lifestyles in the art of integration and embodiment.
Yuj Archetype, Sound Healer
Eli Witkin Bio
Eli Witkin is a playful and experienced educator. He spent the last ten years making his way through wilderness education, experiential programing, and classroom teaching. Whether hosting a monthly Rosh Chodesh Kumzits, guiding children through the woods, or teaching teens Hebrew Calligraphy, with Eli, curiosity and spirituality are always at the forefront. He believes that all humans are born curious, with the innate ability to learn the natural way – through wonder and exploration.
As a lover of learning, Eli holds a random array of certifications including degrees in Geology, Economics, Education, and Experiential Education. More than anything else, he is most proud that former students sometimes reach out just to have coffee.
Eli Witkin, Retreat Educator
