I was a child of the 50s and 60s, and saw the very last remnants of the Jewish farms that dotted the New York Catskills and parts of southern New Jersey. I had a Polish grandfather who worked in farming in Connecticut from c. 1912, He worked there 8 years until he was able to fund my grandmother's ship fare. I have recently heard of an organized philanthropic farm settlement in Connecticut of those years, but I have not been able to make the connection between the two. Of course he was a Yiddish /Polish speaker from the hinterlands outside Warsaw.

Having experienced Yiddish Farm, it is truly a unique experience. It feels as though one is entering a time warp, and a different land. Naftali and the staff are so warm and welcoming. There is a strong sense of camaraderie among the students. The day is divided between Yiddish study and farming. This experience is unduplicated elsewhere.

Yiddish was a language of many kind of Jews. Including the extreme bright and the extreme stupid. The Language was picked up in Southern Germany, the bad character features among Jews, were developed in the harsh landscapes of Eastern Europe. There, the Jews could not not adopt the bad habits, or cultivate injustice among the people. The whole area was home of many sick people. Just to mention one masterpiece which can show a true misery. A human village structure can be studied in the amazing episodes of the movie Zelary.

... what rich tradition brought from the different European countries by the generation of fathers and grandfathers? Jews especially the orthodox sects were in farming, growing fruits, vegetables as much as they are today in Israel or wherever they dwell. Until 20 century they couldn't own a land and didn't bother to lease it for farm or orchard, cultivating land it wasn't their domain or in their mindset ,... The Jew was buying stuff from local farmer for food or for re-sale - Most of them were dirt poor with bunch of hungry kids but didn't bother to look for a job at the time of harvest while his kids had swollen bellies from hunger. Manual job on the farm was below him. Why don't they start learning a native languages in countries where they dwell and search for employment instead of peddling this Yiddish crap that got no future and gives them no chance to communicate outside their flock ,...

This reminds me of the Petit Hameau, the mock farm, complete with cows and sheep, where Marie Antoinette and her cronies pretended to be milkmaids and shepherdesses. Join the real world, folks, and learn languages that are useful, like Russian and Arabic. Even Hebrew is a better choice. This nostalgic selective pretending is silly. To be really authentic, leave the mobile phones and pc's at home, cook in a pot by the fireplace, use candles and an outhouse, change clothes every few months, bathe twice a year and starve from March when the winter stores are just about empty, to May, when nettles, early rhubarb and asparagus start to bloom.

Guess it makes this pathetic one feel better. Farming is an honest living and the article says nothing about them being unemployed. And nothing in the article says they don't speak English. They simply want to carry on a tradition of Yiddish. split may have left Poland but he brought his racist village mentality of intolerance with him.

If we don't look down but look up ,we can always learn something Since,Iselin, you are a smart person who wants to grow i advise you to read Zal Lackov's TB.He knows what he is talking about .

Great! How can I volunteer? Is there an ulpan yidish?

Suckers! US$ 1500 for 2 weeks ! lol They don't help anybody, they want to charge you...