H eadlines
SJ Jewish Farm Debuts CSA Amid Challenges
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
WILLIAM LEVIN’S GREAT-
great-grandfather Moses
Bayuk, along with 42 other
Russian Jewish families,
settled on the patch of land
in Vineland, New Jersey, in
1882, turning to subsistence
farming in the United States
after fleeing the pogroms in
Russia, though they had little
experience farming.

In 2014, more than 130
years after Levin’s family
settled on the land, Levin’s
father was getting ready to sell
it. Levin and his wife Malya,
both of whom had recently
become involved in the Jewish
farming movement, bought
family members’ land shares
and, in 2016, began Alliance
Community Reboot, reviving
the farming roots of Bayuk’s
original settlement of farming
Jews: Alliance Colony.

The Levins founded ACRe as
a “Jewish farming community”
in Vineland with the hopes of
escaping the stressors of their
urban New York lifestyle and
reconnecting themselves — and
fellow Jews — with the land.

On Aug. 5, ACRe launched
its inaugural Community
Supported Agriculture program,
hoping to share its harvest
with locals in South Jersey and
Greater Philadelphia.

It hasn’t been an easy road.

“Similar to William’s ances-
tors, we weren’t farmers,” Malya
Levin said.

Malya Levin is a lawyer
in Brooklyn advocating for
seniors who have experienced
elder abuse; William Levin is a
cartoonist. (He penned a cartoon
for The Jewish Exponent 15 years
ago called “Shabot 6000” about a
Jewish robot).

The Levins struggled to
find the help of local farmers
who would help the couple
who were so green to farming,
especially as they wanted to
grow organic crops, which was
anomalous among the fields
of conventional farming with
pesticides and chemical fertil-
izers in the area.

They eventually found the
guidance they were looking
for from Joe and his grandson
Kenny Bartees, organic farmers
from Brotmanville, New Jersey,
who were willing to partner
with the Levins to help ACRe
grow organically.

In June, the Levins held
an event on their farm for
Introducing Dr. Koko, DVM, as
new Co-Owner and Medical
Director of Family Pet Clinic.

Dr. Koko has been
practicing veterinary
medicine at Family
Pet Clinic since 2018
at both Southampton
& Feasterville
locations. She is
excited to serve the
community & will be
accepting new clients.

2 CONVENIENT
LOCATIONS: introducing
Dr. Tobi Maser Koko!
215-935-4027 | FPCVETS.COM
6 AUGUST 5, 2021
534 2nd St. Pike
Southampton, PA
18966 1441 Bridgetown Pike
Feasterville, PA
19053 ACRe partners with the Bartees family to grow organic crops.

Courtesy of Alliance Community Reboot
interested potential donors to
see ACRe and meet the Bartees.

It was then that the Levins, with
the help of friend and journalist
Ben Harris — who has a decade
of farming under his belt —
hatched their CSA plan.

Harris believed that CSAs
are a boon for some farmers.

During COVID, buying produce
from farms was sometimes more
reliable and safer than buying
from grocery stores.

“When people were afraid to
go to supermarkets, there was
something nice about having a
local farm,” Harris said. “All of
a sudden, we recognized how
susceptible and vulnerable our
food systems truly are.”
Even though the CSA
would potentially grow ACRe’s
audience, the Levins were
underprepared to begin one so
quickly. Most farms begin their
CSAs in June, and they run for
16-20 weeks. ACRe just began
to organize its 12-week CSA
in June.

“To be honest, I don’t think
it’s something I felt we were
truly ready for,” William Levin
said. And the CSA was a steep
investment: The Levins had to
buy proper refrigeration units
to store and help transport
their crops.

JEWISH EXPONENT
Now, even with tomatoes,
watermelon, eggplants, corn,
squash and more growing
abundantly, they are still having
trouble drawing an audience.

As of the end of July,
ACRe had seven committed
customers for their CSA; they
hoped to get 30. With the help
of several donations, the Levins
broke even in their investment,
but would still rather share
their fruits and vegetables with
those interested in building
the specific farmer-community
relationship CSAs allow.

William Levin said that
in South Jersey, lesser-known
vegetables like kohlrabi
are off-putting to potential
CSA-buyers. Generally, CSAs
don’t allow their consumers
to pick which crops they
distribute. “People wanted to be
assured what vegetables they
were going to get,” William
Levin said. “They didn’t like
certain vegetables, and they
thought they wouldn’t ... be
able to cook enough of it. That’s
kind of the antithesis of a CSA.”
The Levins hope to find
a Philadelphia
pick-up location to expand ACRe’s
CSA consumer base. In the
meantime, they continue to
find ways to connect Judaism
and agriculture.

William Levin co-founded Alliance
Community Reboot with Malya Levin
to reconnect with ancestral land.

ACRe has hosted Shabbatonim,
High Holiday services and,
recently, a Tu B’Av event for single
area Jews. Many of the events are
held at the Alliance Synagogue,
constructed by Bayuk more than
a century ago.

Sean Kashani, who has
helped the Levins with CSA
distribution, believes that the
spiritual connection between
farming and Judaism is clear.

“It’s a way to see God’s
hand in creation,” he said. “You
watch a seed deteriorate under-
ground and, with the right soil
and water, it grows into plants
or flowers.”
According to Malya Levin,
bringing the farm back to life
meant not only connecting with
other Jews, but connecting their
three young children back to the
land on which William Levin’s
family had built their home.

“Celebrating with them, in
the shadow of these buildings
and locations that their ances-
tors lived and worshipped on,
has created this new feeling of a
Judaism that’s rooted in a place
in a way that I never experi-
enced,” Malya Levin said.

Information and registra-
tion for ACRe’s CSA can be
found at csa.acreboot.org/. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
Local Leaders Show Solidarity to Israel Via Mission
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
GOING INTO A solidarity
mission to Israel organized
by the Jewish Federations of
North America, Sherrie Savett,
Sharon Kestenbaum, Tracy
Ginsburg and Gail Norry all
knew that Israel faced immense
challenges. But even with that knowl-
edge, the journey opened
their eyes and deepened
their commitment
— emotionally and fi nancially
— to supporting the Jewish
state through their work
with the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia.

A few weeks ago, Savett,
Kestenbaum, Ginsburg and
Norry, who are all active in
Jewish Federation, joined
more than 30 other Federation
donors, leaders and volunteers
from across the United States
for the mission. Th e four-day
educational trip included
a meeting with Knesset
members and visits to several
communities. Th is year’s mission took
place aft er the latest Israel-
Palestine confl ict, in which
Israeli citizens hid in safe
rooms and bomb shelters
during heavy rocket fi re. Th e
intention was to give the group
a deeper understanding of
the oft -tragic situation in the
Jewish state.

And there was no sugar-
coating the narrative.

Th ey met with the parents
of a 5-year-old boy, Ido Avigal,
who was killed by a rocket on
May 12 in Sderot. Th ey visited
a kibbutz, Kfar Aza, near Gaza
that faced heavy rocket fi re
during previous confl icts, too.

Th ey even visited a community
center trying to bring people
together in Lod, a city that
saw rioting between Arabs and
Jews during the crisis.

“It’s mind-boggling how the
Israelis deal with all this adver-
sity,” Ginsburg said. “Th ey are
an incredible people.”
By the end of the trip, the
participants were no longer
in shock over the intractable
confl ict. Instead, they were
hopeful about future relations
between the Jewish and
Arab citizens within Israel’s
borders. As Knesset members told
the group, the current body has
more Arab members, 14, than
any previous government.

See Solidarity, Page 13
The four Philadelphia-area leaders who went on the solidarity mission
to Israel in July are, from left, Sharon Kestenbaum, Sherrie Savett, Tracy
Ginsburg and Gail Norry.

Photo Courtesy of Sherrie Savett
Conscious Compassionate Care
for Care Partners
Presented by Lori La Bey, Founder & CEO of Alzheimer’s Speaks, LLC, and Co-Founder of
Dementia Map © Global Resource Directory; Lori is internationally respected for her work in the
field of dementia and caregiving
We will explore the underbelly
of giving care in a safe, fun
environment. By exploring
things most people don’t dare
talk about, we can identify
what is dragging us down,
ripping at our soul and making us feel less
than when we are working so hard to be more
than we ever have been. This process can
help you find the peace, balance and joy you
deserve in your life, not only when caring for
another, but throughout your life.

Join us for a FREE
Educational Webinar
Tuesday, August 10 th
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

To Register
267-277-2307 TheArtisWay.com/JewishExponent
Please Register By Sunday, August 8 th
Virtually Hosted By Artis Senior Living of Huntingdon Valley: 2085 Lieberman Drive, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Check out our other nearby community in Yardley.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
AUGUST 5, 2021
7