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Simone Stallman is the Managing Director of Hospitality at Isabella Freedman. She comes to Hazon with extensive experience in hospitality management, event planning and catering and has had various roles at Isabella Freedman since 2017. A native New Yorker, Simone spends her time both at Isabella Freedman and in the East Village in New York City. She studied fashion and art at Syracuse University and enjoys going to see live music, snowboarding, cooking and spending time with her pup, Magenta.
Falls Village, CT | 860.824.5991 x3 | simone.stallman@hazon.orgVlastik Valasek is the Senior Event Coordinator at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. In his native Czech Republic, Vlastik was a social worker, motivated by his love for and interest in people. He completed the Multinational Leadership Training Program twice – once he focused on Education, Social Services, Management, Customer Service, and Counseling, and the second time he focused on Management, Business, Commerce, and Finance. Vlastik is responsible for many of the organizational aspects of our organizational retreats and family simchas, working closely on logistics with families and group leaders to ensure that Isabella Freedman provides the best food, programming, and services possible. Vlastik likes traveling, modern art, music, literature, and good coffee.
Falls Village, CT | 860.824.5991 | vlastik.valasek@hazon.orgShamu Fenyvesi Sadeh is the Managing Director of Education at Isabella Freedman. He is the co-founder and former director of Adamah, and prior to that he worked as the Director of Teva, and now he leads our efforts to educate all Isabella Freedman guests. He teaches Judaism and ecology, turns the compost piles, maintains the orchards, and supervises and mentors staff and Adamah Fellows. His wife Jaimie and kids Yonah, Ibby, and Lev help harvest and pickle, and DJ staff dance parties.
Falls Village, CT | shamu.sadeh@hazon.orgJanna wears a few hats at Hazon. As the Adamah Farm Director, Janna leads apprentices, residential fellows, and volunteers in growing organic vegetables for the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, local customers, and food banks while maintaining the fields as resonant learning space. She teaches about growing food, climate change, policy, food systems, and Jewish tradition. As Hazon’s advocacy coordinator, Janna leads grassroots efforts to raise Jewish voices on behalf of a more just and regenerative food system. Janna has been farming since 2005 and has been at Adamah since 2011. Physical work with community and in the soil informs and inspires her approach as an advocate and educator.
Falls Village, CT | janna.siller@hazon.orgHazon means vision and Hazon’s vision is to create a vibrant, healthy Jewish community in which to be Jewish is to help create a more sustainable world for all. So what is your vision for how we can repair the earth and how do you play a role in that?
One of the reasons that I think it’s so hard for people to live sustainably is cost and convenience. Mostly convenience. But also cost. It’s just really, really convenient to get disposables and get things to go and most of the things that you have access to are disposable or just not good for the environment. I think that making sure that we have more sustainable options available is important. Obviously, it would be optimal if we got to a point where there were more sustainable options and not unsustainable options, but if there’s at least a comparable amount of both I think that is something that would make a huge impact.
Also, a huge thing that we do is equity and being sustainable can be really expensive.
Finding biodegradable or compostable cutlery or plates is a lot more expensive than buying a bajillion solo cups. So then obviously with the access and the process there’s a certain amount of privilege to being able to live sustainability. So I think that working with other companies and organizations, and helping them make more sustainable choices will end up having ripple effects. And I think that my role is, it’s actually interesting, because I read this article recently that was saying how someone living a low waist life is potentially not as impactful as living a regular waist filled life and reaching out to large companies who generate a lot of waves is important and actually asking them to make changes. I don’t know whether or not I agree with that, but it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about. I try myself to live as minimally wasteless as possible. But something that I definitely want to work on is reaching out to different companies and organizations that are widespread or that have an impact on me and seeing if they can make more sustainable choices.
What role does tikkun olam play in your life and how is that connected to the Brit Hazon?
So many ways. One of the things that I love about Hazon is our three things that we call out for what we want for this world. We want a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. And I think that a lot of the different ways that we practice and improve and incorporate health, sustainability and equity is a form of tikkun olam. Making sure that animals are treated fairly and in doing so, doing away with factory farming, which is kinder to the earth, and abolishing all of these terrible practices, making the norm be ethical practices that would lower the cost of things. And I just think that it’s all tied together so that we’re helping the planet and animals and humans all be able to have the same access to live a healthy, sustainable and equitable life.
Hazon means vision and Hazon’s vision is to create a vibrant, healthy Jewish community in which to be Jewish is to help create a more sustainable world for all. So what is your vision for how we can repair the earth and how do you play a role in that?
One of the reasons that I think it’s so hard for people to live sustainably is cost and convenience. Mostly convenience. But also cost. It’s just really, really convenient to get disposables and get things to go and most of the things that you have access to are disposable or just not good for the environment. I think that making sure that we have more sustainable options available is important. Obviously, it would be optimal if we got to a point where there were more sustainable options and not unsustainable options, but if there’s at least a comparable amount of both I think that is something that would make a huge impact.
Also, a huge thing that we do is equity and being sustainable can be really expensive.
Finding biodegradable or compostable cutlery or plates is a lot more expensive than buying a bajillion solo cups. So then obviously with the access and the process there’s a certain amount of privilege to being able to live sustainability. So I think that working with other companies and organizations, and helping them make more sustainable choices will end up having ripple effects. And I think that my role is, it’s actually interesting, because I read this article recently that was saying how someone living a low waist life is potentially not as impactful as living a regular waist filled life and reaching out to large companies who generate a lot of waves is important and actually asking them to make changes. I don’t know whether or not I agree with that, but it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about. I try myself to live as minimally wasteless as possible. But something that I definitely want to work on is reaching out to different companies and organizations that are widespread or that have an impact on me and seeing if they can make more sustainable choices.
What role does tikkun olam play in your life and how is that connected to the Brit Hazon?
So many ways. One of the things that I love about Hazon is our three things that we call out for what we want for this world. We want a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. And I think that a lot of the different ways that we practice and improve and incorporate health, sustainability and equity is a form of tikkun olam. Making sure that animals are treated fairly and in doing so, doing away with factory farming, which is kinder to the earth, and abolishing all of these terrible practices, making the norm be ethical practices that would lower the cost of things. And I just think that it’s all tied together so that we’re helping the planet and animals and humans all be able to have the same access to live a healthy, sustainable and equitable life.