From Shtetl to Jersey Soil with Gabe Siciliano

In this episode, Shani sits down with farmer Gabe Siciliano, whose family has been farming the same New Jersey property for nearly a century. Gabe shares the remarkable story of his great-grandfather Abraham, who immigrated to the United States from Ukraine in the early 1900 with a dream of becoming a farmer—a dream that had been impossible for him to pursue as a Jew in Ukraine.

Gabe traces his family’s journey from Ukraine to Brooklyn and eventually to New Jersey, where his great-grandfather purchased an old farmhouse, began accumulating land, and built a life through farming, boarding, and whatever work was necessary to get by. He shares stories of the antisemitism his family encountered, including a cross burned on their lawn, and the resilience of the generations who built a life on the land despite it.

The conversation also explores New Jersey’s rich and often overlooked history of Jewish agriculture. Gabe talks about Jersey Homesteads, a secular Jewish farming cooperative created during the New Deal, as well as the Jewish agricultural communities and egg cooperatives that once flourished throughout the state. He reflects on the different reasons Jews came to farming—from seeking economic opportunity and a way out of crowded cities to intentionally reclaiming an agrarian Jewish life.

Gabe and Shani explore what it means to be both “a Jewish farmer” and “a Jew who farms,” and how Jewish teachings around tzedakah, mutual aid, kashrut, and stewardship inform Gabe’s approach to agriculture. From gleaning surplus crops for food pantries to thinking about the land as something sacred that does not belong to us but that we are responsible for caring for, Gabe shares how Jewish wisdom shows up in the practical decisions he makes on his farm.

The conversation also considers the relationship between farming and Jewish community. Gabe reflects on the importance of connecting with other Jewish farmers, particularly when the Jewish community around him is no longer as agriculturally rooted as it once was. Shani and Gabe discuss how agricultural holidays and practices can take on new meaning when experienced alongside people who actually grow, harvest, and care for food and land.

From a great-grandfather fleeing Ukraine with a dream of farming to a family farm that continues to operate generations later, this episode explores Jewish agricultural history, the meaning of stewardship, and what it means to inherit not just land, but a relationship to the land. 🌱

In this episode, Shani sits down with farmer, educator, and herbalist Alex Rosenberg-Rigutto. Alex manages an educational farm and co-owns Northwoods Farmstead and Skill Center in Hersey, Michigan with her husband Rick, where they are slowly regenerating ten acres of previously neglected land while building a small garlic and potato operation.

Alex shares the unlikely path that led her to farming—from working as a nursing assistant and struggling with her own health, to questioning the food systems she saw around her and beginning to grow food herself. What began as curiosity soon became a calling, leading her through years of farm work, institutional agriculture, and eventually the dream of building a farm of her own.

The conversation explores the realities many farmers face: financial uncertainty, the search for stability, and the tension between institutional farm jobs and independent farming dreams. Alex and Shani also reflect on the emotional and spiritual journey of reconnecting farming with Jewish identity—especially for farmers who didn’t grow up seeing agriculture as part of Jewish life.

Alex also discusses her work creating widely loved kitchen herbalism content online, where she teaches people how to incorporate herbs and healing plants into everyday cooking. With nearly 100,000 followers, she has built a community around accessible herbal knowledge, food preservation, and seasonal living.

From regenerating land and growing garlic to navigating Jewish identity in rural America, this episode explores what it means to build a life rooted in soil, tradition, and possibility.

In this episode, we speak with Marlo Stein, a queer Jewish farmer based in Hardwick, Massachusetts, where she runs Round Table Farm—a cut flower and small dairy operation on a historic fifth-generation farm near the Quabbin Reservoir.

Marlo shares her journey from growing up in suburban Newton to building a life in agriculture, reflecting on how years of farming across the country shaped both her relationship to the land and her connection to Jewish tradition. Together we explore how Jewish holidays, rituals, and agricultural cycles come alive when practiced on a farm—from building a sukkah in the fields to rethinking Passover ingredients through the lens of local growing seasons.

We also talk about the power of rural community, the challenges and possibilities of taking over historic farmland, and how farming can offer a place-based way of engaging with Jewish identity, spirituality, and tradition.

In this episode, we speak with Zalman (Robbie) Friedman, founder of Robariah Farms in Western Massachusetts, about his journey from the suburbs of Dallas to becoming a regenerative poultry farmer and certified shochet. Zalman shares how the Adamah Fellowship shaped his path, why chickens became the focus of his farm, and how he built a small-scale system for producing local, pasture-raised kosher meat.

Together we explore the challenges of farming as a livelihood, the legacy of Jewish poultry farming in America, and how Jewish values, community, and land stewardship intersect in the day-to-day work of raising animals. 🐓🌾🎙️