Nearly two years after joining forces, the Pearlstone retreat center and outdoor education campus in Reisterstown and Hazon, the New York-based Jewish environmental organization, have officially completed their merger and formed a new identity as Adamah.
“It has been 20 months since the Hazon and Pearlstone boards voted to merge, and since then we have been hard at work building a new team, culture, and strategy,” wrote Jakir Manela, CEO of Pearlstone and Hazon, in an email to supporters. “Our mission is to cultivate vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the earth, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Jewish environmental education, climate action, and immersive retreats. Together we’ve built upon the strong foundations of both organizations, and also begun to create something new.
“And yesterday [Mar. 1] we received the wonderful news that our legal merger is now complete! Amidst this inflection point — as Jews, as Americans, and as human beings on planet earth — we are grateful and excited to embrace our new identity.”
Manela wrote that Adamah — the Hebrew word for Earth — will operate out of Pearlstone’s campus at 5425 Mount Gilead Rd. and Hazon’s Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut. He wrote that the organization will also maintain a “Community Impact Hub” in Detroit, and will create new hubs in Southern California and elsewhere later this year.
“In Jewish communities across North America, and beyond, Adamah will build upon the powerful legacies of Hazon and Pearlstone in order to take our impact to a new level, inspiring and empowering tens of thousands of participants and hundreds of organizational partners each year,” Manela wrote.
The mission of Adamah, he wrote, is to forge “the deep connection between people and planet, adam and adamah. Every day, we inspire and empower people to feel that connection, activate Jewish identity, build inclusive community, and work towards a more sustainable future. We are the link between our ancestors and our descendants, and we feel called to respond to today’s crises with the full power of the Jewish spirit.”