From Colorado to Israel. After Eleven Beautiful Years, Ahavah Farm and the Camire Family Says Farewell. A Letter to Our Beloved Community.

Dear Ahavah FaRmily,

Last week our family and the rest of the Jewish nation read the section of the Torah about Avraham’s first test – to “go forth and be a blessing.” “Lech lecha…V’Hiya Beracha”( לֶךְ־לְךָ … וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה ).  These words begin the torah portion and begin the first test of Avraham’s mission as the Ba’al Chesed (Master of Kindness) that all the nations of the world would bless themselves by (Genesis/Bereshit 12:1-2).   לֶךְ־לְךָ , to go forth, is about trusting in Hashem.  Avraham had to have the courage to trust.  He didn’t know where he was going, how he was going to get there, and he had to leave the known comfort of his world, his father’s home, his relatives and his security to step into the unknown because Hashem said “go” and “be a blessing.” 

That call, to come here to Peyton, Colorado and “וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה – be a blessing” has lived in our bones and has been the center of our lives since the day we left Denver to settle this land, build a farm and to sacrifice our lives for those within our reach, and now it is time for us to move on, like Avraham and be a blessing somewhere else.  

Our family, and our farm, is moving to Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel – our homeland…

When we first left Denver, over eleven years ago, and we left Yosef’s high-paying engineering career, our friends, our Jewish community, and our synagogue we didn’t do it just for an adventure – though it sure has been that! – we left for the sake of giving.  To BE and to LIVE-OUT Ahavah (אַהֲבָה), love.  The word, אַהֲבָה, means to give of oneself.  It’s the ultimate definition for the word love.  To love others is a sacrifice.  And that was our goal when we started this beautiful farm eleven years ago.  

From the very beginning, our mission was stubborn and simple: health for our region, healing for the earth, and love for our community, by growing the purest, most responsibly raised food we knew how to grow.  The one-thousand times we said to our community, “Ahavah means love” was not just a sentiment or something we threw around willy-nilly, but it was the choice we made as a family to to give of oneself—and this community allowed us to live that meaning out loud. 

In eleven seasons, we lived a lifetime. To this point in our lives of forty-five years and seven beautiful children, and the five homes we have owned, the numerous businesses, organizations and events we have started in our nearly twenty-four years of marriage, building this farm, serving this community and enjoying the love of so many wonderful and amazing people, it has been the most incredible and dearest part of our lives to date.  

Over the years we learned what it’s like to plant with faith and harvest with gratitude. We learned what it means to love a place so much that it hurts. And we learned that “community” is not just the people who show up when things are easy; it’s the people who show up no matter what. 

Together, we weathered the bomb-cyclone that destroyed over $400,000.00 worth of infrastructure. We battled hail storm after hail storm…after hail storm, and the wind…oh the wind! We endured a grasshopper pandemic when it felt like anything green was simply an invitation to be devoured, and yet you kept encouraging us: “Keep going, we’re with you.” And when we all had to battle the real pandemic, COVID - when the world felt uncertain but carrots still had to be washed and packed, and the CSA still needed to roll on (even if we worked with masks in one-hundred degree heat to ensure you, particularly those who were in need the most, would get the nutrition you needed and couldn’t get at the store), you were there, working alongside us,  and cheering us on. 

In the middle of it all, we walked through cancer for five long years (the hardest years of our lives), as Yosef struggled to cure himself - and you not only covered us with love, but you sent him to Mexico to receive treatment and you prayed, you volunteered, you sent us letters and let us know that you were standing by our side through it all…and we love you so much for that.  

We will always love you.  So many of you, way, way, way too many to list, reminded us by your actions that a farm can be built on love and a community can be stitched together by kindness.

Through the years we also built and tried and learned - and, yes, sometimes lost. We launched the Ahavah Farm Nursery with its wild spring energy and hope. We opened the Ahavah Farm Store to put integrity on the shelf where families shop. We woke up at impossible hours to haul coolers to farmers’ markets across the Front Range. We brought our convictions into hemp with Teva Organics. Some ventures soared. Some didn’t. But each one was an honest attempt to keep “local, sustainable, pure” more than a slogan - to make it a promise we faithfully kept, even when keeping it was the harder road. 

No matter what came our way, we never compromised our values.  We never wavered in our faith and we never gave up, and much of that dedication was because of the love you gave us.  YOU didn’t give up on US.  You donated, you volunteered, you sacrificed yourselves as well, and this made us strong, kept us going and it’s really because of you that we were able to do so much good and donate to so many who needed it the most. This drove us, and we are eternally grateful for you – more than words in a simple letter, or a million tear drops could ever express.

Through the hard times there were quieter miracles, too - the ones that never make it onto a spreadsheet. A child discovering a ladybug on a fennel frond. The way the wash-pack station fills with the scent of basil and garlic greens on a Wednesday afternoon. The way first snow hushes the fields and the deep cold makes the kale taste like candy. The way a member’s face lights up the first time they taste a tomato grown for flavor instead of a truck ride (or the turnips – oh the turnips!  How many hearts have been changed by these beautiful little white globes of goodness!). The way hundreds of volunteers slipped on gloves and became a living engine of kindness - seeding, weeding, lifting, loading, teaching, smiling, and being a blessing. If you ever tightened row cover at dusk or loaded a truck in the freezing cold, you are a cornerstone of the Ahavah FaRmily.

You came in snow and in summer heat. Your children tugged our candy-sweet carrots from living soil and learned that the best food is grown with love, without chemicals, tractors or harsh pesticides.  You stood in our wash-pack and laughed with us when hoses sprayed the “wrong” person. You prayed with us, learned with us, circled many bonfires with us, celebrated with us at festivals, lit candles with us at Hanukkah, read stories with us at Storytime on the Farm, swung on our swings, slid down our zipline, played on our bus, joined us at farmer’s markets, and stayed late to stack chairs when we were running on fumes. We were never just a farm; we were always a family - your FaRmily as much as our own.  We love you.  We can’t say it enough.  WE. LOVE. YOU.

Through Ahavah Community Initiative (ACI)—our 501(c)(3)—and with your incredible generosity (and Hashem’s help), we connected families facing food insecurity to regeneratively grown produce – almost $1 Million (nearly $990,000) worth of fresh, nutrient-dense food was joyfully donated over these years. The families we donated to, the families who took advantage of the “Pay-What-You-Can-Afford” mission, and the families that gave back have always been what this farm has been about.  ACI was our cornerstone.  It was what woke us up in the morning, what kept us up late at night and it was what gave us hope in humanity.  Your donations, and the gratefulness that came from the members struggling with cancer, disease and disability, with feeding their very children is why we have done what we have done and will be the hardest part of this transition – this new calling to leave you, and “Go forth…and be a blessing” somewhere else.

Three of our children were born during the life of this farm. They learned to crawl between seedling trays and to rub mint and basil between their fingers and know plants by fragrance, to recognize varieties by their seeds and to understand that real food sometimes comes with dirt and always comes with gratitude. They learned that work is holy and that serving others is what love looks like when it puts on boots. Your children grew alongside ours. They learned where carrots come from and that love is an action, not a verb.  Love, ahavah, is something we do, it’s something we give, and they have seen it in themselves, in the way their own family has lived our lives, and they have seen it more importantly in the way our community has given back to us and to them.  They feel your love.  WE. FEEL. YOUR. LOVE. We didn’t just raise vegetables here; we raised a generation on both sides of the pickup and farmer's market tables to love the earth and one another, and you were a big, big part of that – a part we will forever be grateful for. 

We are not wanting to leave, simply to leave; We promise, this is not an easy decision and it is not by the whim - it’s something we feel called to deeply.  Leaving our community to build a new one, to be a blessing somewhere else is something we feel our family must do. Not necessarily a choice.  With full hearts and tearful eyes, we’re sharing that life has changed. After eleven unforgettable years, our family needs to sell the farm and begin a new chapter - sailing to Israel, b’ezrat Hashem, on what we believe will be the most incredible adventure of our lives.  

Yes, you heard that right.  Many of you know that last year we bought a boat – a Dean 440 Catamaran, a 44ft x 24ft, four bedroom and three bathroom sailboat.  Yosef went to sailing school and we sailed it all the way up from the Florida Keys, an adventure we will never forget.  Many of you also know that Yosef has spent the entire year travelling back and forth from Colorado to Texas (where it is currently) to work on the boat, upgrade it and get it ready for what is to come – to travel to our homeland in Eretz Yisrael.  And you know what the name of our boat is?  You may be happy to know that we named it “Lech Lecha” and underneath we put “V’Hiya Beracha,” “…and be a blessing.”

To be sure, we are scared.  Petrified, actually.  Not of the sailing part, that will be an incredible blessing, an adventure that few in this world will ever experience.  We will visit the entire east coast, travel to the Bahamas and the Carribean, we will sail to the Statue of Liberty, to Boston Harbor, to Maine, and then onto Greenland, Iceland and then across the Atlantic to England, then to Spain, France, Italy, Greece and on through the Mediterranean all the way to Israel where we hope to settle and start our new adventure.  That part will be…beyond words.  But the part that petrifies us, the part that keeps us up at night is that we will be leaving you all.  Just like Avraham had to leave his father’s home, his relatives and his comfort zone, it’s time for us to do the same.  And we will miss you. A lot.

This is not a goodbye to love or to service. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime window while most of our children are still under our roof and have the ability (and desire) to stay close to us.  Asher is almost 20, and Aiden turns 18 this month, while Israel just turned 16, quick on their heels.  And before we know it, Eliana, Ovadya, Elisheva and Nedira will be all grown up, and we only live once.  So now is the time. We feel we have one last opportunity to go as a family and “be a blessing” in the land we’re being called back to. We want to serve our family in Israel, to plant the values and hard-learned wisdom of regenerative agriculture into the soil of Eretz Yisrael - farming that heals land and nourishes souls. We are asking for your prayers, your blessings, and your friendship as we step forward im yirtzeh Hashem.

To our CSA members - you have been our backbone. You weathered the lean weeks with grace and celebrated the abundant weeks with joy. You were patient when weather dented our plans and jubilant when the crops hit like sunshine. Your notes of encouragement arrived exactly when we needed them. Your smiles on pickup day were worth more than you know. You taught our kids what it means to be steadfast. YOU. ARE. EXTRAORDINARY!

We have given our souls to this farm, to this business, and to this community. And now it is time to move forward - not because love has run dry, but because seasons change and Hashem opens new doors. We will finish this CSA season with integrity and then, b’ezrat Hashem, cast off lines aboard Lech Lecha, to Be a Blessing and begin the long sail that will, in time, carry our family home to Israel.

The route, the timing, the small details - we’re holding them with open hands, and we hope to document our journey on our YouTube channel, @AhavahFarmllc. But the calling is clear: go, and be a blessing. In Israel, with the help and guidance of Hashem, we hope to restart - bringing the best of what we learned here into a new field there - in about two years.

We know you need the practicals, so here they are, held in the same love with which we’ve packed every share:

We will run the CSA through the end of this season—Friday, December 19, 2025. That is the last pickup date. We will then continue to offer microgreen subscriptions into February/March 2026 (exact end date TBD), because it’s a simple way to keep nourishing you while you nourish us in this transition. We’ll share sign-up instructions soon. If you have credits, gift cards, or holds, please use them now; no credits will be issued after we close on December 19, and credits/gift certificates/holds cannot be applied to microgreen subscriptions. Pickup sites and delivery remain unchanged through the last week.

We would love to host a farewell gathering - if members want to help us plan it. And we will need a lot of help closing down well: final harvests, deep cleaning, packing, and setting things in good order for the next owners. If you can lend hands (or a truck, or a paint brush, or a drill, or a hammer, or a…you name it), your help would bless our family more than you know. ACI will wind down, with remaining funds used to get food to those who need it now, and the farm will be listed for sale (we’ll share details when they’re available). We are not selling equipment or greenhouses separately (a few vehicles and many personal items will be sold however, since we can't take most of it with us). And then - b’ezrat Hashem - we will make ready to sail to Israel. Our intention is to restart in Israel in about two years, planting the same convictions - purity, transparency, regenerative practice - into new soil.

Before we go, there are a few things we don’t want to leave unsaid:

We started with a name - Ahavah - and a conviction that love means service. We believed a family could prove that purity and transparency are not marketing lines but the very architecture of a righteous business. We believed a farm could be built on prayer and row cover and honest sweat. We believed a community could anchor a farm, and a farm could anchor a community. You proved us right!

With gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers who made the impossible possible: you are the quiet heroes of Ahavah. To every member who helped a pickup day, who smiled when the crops didn’t, who sent a note when we were at the edge - thank you. To all who circled our bonfires, showed up at our festivals, brought your children to learn, and prayed for us through bomb cyclones, cancer, hail, grasshoppers, and COVID - thank you for being the kind of community that makes hard things endurable and good things radiant.

We will push off on our sailing adventure with gratitude and fear and joy braided together, trusting the One who said “go.” We’ll carry your faces and your stories on board. We’ll carry jars of spices from the the farm, some soil in a jar, the memory of your love and the image of the way Colorado light hits a greenhouse in January. And we’ll keep choosing the love that gives of itself - the love that built Ahavah Farm.

Thank you for believing that food can be pure, that farming can heal, and that business can be generous. Thank you for letting us serve you. Thank you for loving our family. We are leaving with full hearts. יְבָרֶכְךָ ה׳ וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ; יָאֵר ה׳ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָ. “May Hashem bless you and guard you. May Hashem make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” May He send rain in its season and sweetness in your kitchens. May the seeds we planted together continue to nourish this community long after our footsteps fade from these rows. 

L’hitraot - we will see you again.

With love and endless gratitude,

Yosef, Havah, and the Camire Family

Ahavah Farm

P.S. Please keep our family in your prayers as we prepare to sail - b’ezrat Hashem - aboard “Go and Be a Blessing,” and as we plan to restart in Israel in the coming years. If you’d like to help plan a farewell gathering or volunteer during close-down, reply to this message - we’d be honored to end this chapter shoulder-to-shoulder, the way we lived it.

What you need to know (dates & next steps)

Last CSA pickup / last on-farm market: Friday, December 19, 2025. (Operations continue normally through the end of this season.)

Microgreen subscriptions: We’ll continue microgreen subscriptions into February/March 2026 (exact end date to be announced). This is a simple way to support us a little longer and keep the best microgreens on your table. We’ll share sign-up instructions shortly via email.Credits, gift cards, holds: Please use them now. No credits will be issued after we close on December 19, 2025. (Credits/gift certificates cannot be applied to microgreen subscriptions.)

Pickup sites & delivery: No changes before the last week.

Volunteers: We would love your help with final harvests, packing, deep cleaning, and organizing for the next owners. To pitch in, reply to this email or contact contact@ahavahfarm.com 

Ahavah Community Initiative (ACI): ACI will wind down. Remaining funds will be used to help members in need during the government shutdown.

The land & equipment: The farm will be listed for sale; we’ll share details when available. No equipment or greenhouses will be sold separately.

Looking ahead: We plan to make aliyah and, with the help of  Hashem, restart in Israel in about two years.  Please keep your eye out for more information and be sure to subscribe to the Ahavah Farm YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ahavahfarmllc as we share our adventures with you.