Sukkas On A Maine Farm

JONESPORT, Maine -- In this remote region of the northern Maine coastline, two unlikely people are making a living from the land. Avraham and Dina Bracha Pearlman who left their jobs in Detroit and bought 20 acres in Washington County, the poorest and easternmost region in the state.

Using hand tools, the couple built a homestead on former blueberry land and named it the Crossroad Farm. Their house is made from stone and salvaged wood and sits near a well they dug themselves. They carved gardens out of the hard soil and a root cellar from the rocky hillside. They planted an orchard, prepared beds for strawberries and asparagus, and enriched the soil with fish waste. Today, they live without electricity or indoor plumbing, rarely go to the grocery store, and subsist on sales from their crop. They eat only what they grow.

Given the circumstances, it might seem difficult for the Pearlmans to keep to the Jewish dietary laws and celebrate Tishri. But the couple stops work for all the High Holy Days and every Shabbas; the holiday Of Sukkas is uniquely relevant to their rural life.