Summer Retreat 2026

August 6-9th at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center | Falls Village, CT

The Let My People Sing! Summer Retreat - our signature offering - is a four-day gathering centered on Jewish communal singing for healing and liberation. This immersive song experience is structured around Shabbat and features programming led by our fabulous teaching team, participant-led workshops, community sings, multiple prayer options, and a participatory concert on Saturday night. More info coming this Winter!

Registration Lottery & Financial Assistance Timeline Summary:
Monday, Jan 12, 11am EST - Registration Lottery Sign Up Opens + Financial Assistance Applications Open 
Friday, Jan 23, 4:00pm EST - Financial Assistance Applications Close 
Monday, Feb 9, 11:59pm EST - Registration Lottery Closes + Waitlist Opens

LOTTERY SIGN UPS ARE OPEN!

This year we’re very excited to be using a lottery system for registration to make the process more equitable and less stressful for everyone. The registration lottery sign-up period is from January 12 - February 9.

• Lottery sign-ups are open to individuals, groups, and families

• After the lottery closes, registration links will first be sent to people receiving financial assistance and people with prioritized identities*, then registration links will be sent out in randomized batches starting in March.

• Once you receive a registration link in your inbox, you’ll have 72 hours to register before the next batch is invited. 

• Receiving a link grants access to the registration form, but does not guarantee a specific housing/pricing option. Availability depends on what remains at that time.   

*All are welcome and encouraged to come sing. In alignment with our values and uplifting those historically and ongoingly marginalized in Jewish community, we are prioritizing participation of BIJCOSM, trans women and trans femmes, disabled people, raised poor or working-class folks, elders, teens, and families with young children.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

We are holding a two-week financial assistance application period that will be open from January 12- January 23.  Isabella Freedman and Let My People Sing! are teaming up to provide financial assistance for participants. Anyone is welcome to apply for financial assistance, and we will do our best to offer what we can. Given the limited funds available, we prioritize funds for BIJCOSM (Black, Indigenous, Jews of Color, Sephardim, and Mizrahim), trans women and trans femmes. 

We will be in touch during the second or third week of February to let you know if we can offer financial assistance before we begin sending out general lottery registration links in March.

**Help make this summer's retreat more financially accessible to more people by donating to the Financial Assistance Fund! All donations will go directly towards subsidizing registration costs.**

2026 Teaching Team

Lead and Featured Teachers coming soon!

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to have singing skills to come?

Not at all! At LMPS, we believe that everyone can sing. Part of the power of communal singing is creating a collective voice that is made up of a beautiful multiplicity of voices, and is much bigger than any one voice individually. We need all of our voices to make that larger voice. We need your voice, whatever authentic singing looks and feels and sounds like for you. That is what makes the magic. Whether you are excited to deepen into your voice, your musical lineages, to expand your breadth of singing experience, or are new to Jewish communal singing altogether, you are welcome wanted in this space!

Schedule

Do you have a schedule yet?

We do not yet have a sharable schedule for this summer’s retreat, however you can check out our 2025 Summer Retreat schedule as a sample. The retreat will start Thursday August 6th in the afternoon and end midday on Sunday, August 9th. Please plan to arrive no later than Friday afternoon.

Registration & Pricing

What is the registration process this year?

In an attempt to make the registration process more equitable and less stressful this year, we are using a lottery system!

Timeline Summary:
Monday, Jan 12, 11am EST - Registration Lottery Sign Up Opens + Financial Assistance Applications Open 
Friday, Jan 23, 4:00pm EST - Financial Assistance Applications Close 
Monday, Feb 9, 11:59pm EST - Registration Lottery Closes + Waitlist Opens

The lottery sign up period will be open from January 12 - February 9. Lottery sign ups can be done for individuals, groups, or families. We will first send the registration link to people receiving financial assistance and people with prioritized identities*. After that, we will send the registration link in batches according to the randomized order of the lottery. Once you are sent a registration link, you have 72 hours to register before the next batch of people are sent the link. Receiving a registration link does not guarantee you a spot in a room of your choosing, it simply grants you the registration link. Whatever housing options are left at the time you receive the link is what is available to you. 

We are also holding a two week financial assistance application period from January 12-23. Anyone is welcome to apply for financial assistance, and we will do our best to offer what we can.  Given the limited funds available, we prioritize funds for BIJCOSM (Black, Indigenous, Jews of Color, Sephardim, and Mizrahim), trans women and trans femmes. 

*All are welcome and encouraged to come sing! And, in alignment with our values of intergenerationality and uplifting those who are historically and ongoingly marginalized in Jewish community, we are working to prioritize the participation of BIJOCSM (Black, Indigenous, Jews of Color, Sephardim, Mizrahim), trans women, trans femmes, disabled people, raised poor or working class folks, elders, teens and families with young children.

How much does this retreat cost?

Isabella Freedman has a variety of room types, which can accommodate individuals and families of various sizes. More details on accommodations can be found here.

We understand that the retreat is already preventively expensive for many. As such we set registration fees at a lower price point than the true cost of each room (which includes housing, food, and programming). However, in order to offer this rate, we have to fundraise approximately $30,000 before, during and after the retreat to make up the difference. Paying the true cost of your registration, will allow Let My People Sing! more capacity to put on programming throughout the year.

Below, we will list the subsidized rate that you will see on the registration page, and the true costs of each room option, as well as the difference. If you are in a financial place to cover the full cost, we ask that you add the difference as an additional donation when you check out.

Here is the 2026 pricing for registration as listed on the Isabella Freedman website (inclusive of meals, programming, and housing):

• Standard Room (Private bathroom): $960 per adult in double occupancy | $1,535 single occupancy

• Basic Room (Shared full bathroom between two rooms): $750 per adult in double occupancy | $1,200 single occupancy

• Dormitory Style (shared half bathroom between two rooms) multiple occupancy: $620

• Camping: $515

• Commuting: $505

• Child (5-12 years old): $290

• Toddler (2-4 years old): $140

• Infant: (Under 2 years old): $0

Financial Assistance

Will there be financial assistance available?

Yes! There will be a two-week financial assistance application period from January 12-23. Anyone is welcome to apply for financial assistance, and we will do our best to offer what we can. Due to limited funding, we are prioritizing financial assistance for people who are BIJOCSM, trans women, trans femmes, raised poor and working class, without a financial safety net, and disabled.

Can I donate to the financial assistance fund?

Yes! 100% of your donation will go towards directly supporting folks to attend this summer’s retreat. Help make this summer's retreat more financially accessible to more people by donating to the Financial Assistance Fund!

TRAVEL

How do I get there?

Please refer to the information linked here about how best to get to Isabella Freedman. 

• If you are arriving by air you should plan to rent a car or arrange a carpool to/from the airport if you're flying in from out of town.

• We are offering a shuttle for folks coming from the Wassaic Train Station to and from Isabella Freedman, as long as two or more people sign up. There will be one shuttle on Thursday afternoon *to* Isabella Freedman, and one shuttle on Sunday *to* Wassaic Train Station from Isabella Freedman. Please note: there will be one shuttle per day, Freedman registrar will be in touch about the timing. There is a $35 fee each way to ride the shuttle. You can sign up for a shuttle upon registration (step 2).

• We will provide a ride share board for participants to find each other upon registration. We will not be coordinating rides.

Accessibility & COVID-19

What are your COVID-19 policies and practices?

Please read our 2026 COVID-19 Protocols Document carefully as the COVID-19 protocols for Let My People Sing! are different than those for other retreats at Isabella Freedman. Following the protocols will be required for all participants.

What can I expect in terms of accessibility?

In the meantime you can check out our Accessibility Document for more information on access at this retreat. You may also go to Isabella Freedman’s Guest Information page to learn more about Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center.

Families & Childcare

I would like to come with my kids, are kids welcome at LMPS, and will there be childcare available?

Yes! Families and kids are very welcome! Camp Adamah is our kids programming space that is offered during the retreat. It is led by fabulous Camp Adamah educators, and available during various programming hours.

Thursday there will be an orientation for all the kids and parents.
For kids 2-4 we have Gan Adamah from 9a-12p on Friday, Saturday & Sunday.
For kids 5-12 we have Camp Adamah from 9a-12p & 2-5p on Friday, Saturday & Sunday (just until programming ends)
For children under 2, folks are welcome to join Gan or Camp Adamah as long as they stay with their child there. 

Halachic Observance & Practice

Will I be able to participate in programming on shabbat if I am shomer shabbat?

Yes! Electronics will not be used on shabbat in public spaces other than for access reasons for individuals, and will be noted on the schedule as such. We do not use instruments on shabbat in public spaces or in programming unless noted. Our creative minyan often uses instruments and amplification, other than that we aim to schedule all sessions that use instruments for Friday day or Sunday. If that is not possible, we will indicate the session as using instruments on the schedule. There are always multiple options to choose from.

Will I be able to attend minyan three times a day?

We will have Traditional Egalitarian services each day for Shacharit, Mincha & Maariv/Arvit. We cannot guarantee there will always be a minyan of people present at each service, but most often that is not a problem! We will not be organizing an Orthodox minyan this year.

Will there be kosher food?

Yes! The Isabella Freedman kitchen is glatt kosher under supervision of the Hartford Kashrut Commission.

Culture & Community

What is the culture of Let My People Sing!’s gatherings?

Check out our Building the Culture of Let My People Sing! page to find out how we create culture together at our gatherings.

What kinds of songs are sung?

Let My People Sing! brings together music traditions across Jewish time and space, from ancient to contemporary music, and everything in between. Our project includes restoring lost or broken lineages of cultural transmission, and simultaneously elevating, celebrating, learning and teaching the incredible new music coming out of our communities. We sing the songs of queer and trans Jews, Mizrahi and Sefardi Jews, Jews of color, Jews with disabilities, women and femmes, people singing in Ladino, Yiddish, and Judeo-Arabic, and other people who have been historically and ongoingly marginalized, and in some cases erased, from normative Jewish culture and practice. We sing spiritual, secular, and religious songs. We sing the songs of our ancestors, the songs of our hearts, and the songs of our multiple communities.

A note on the music of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at LMPS:
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was a prolific and influential spiritual and musical leader in the Jewish community who has a complicated history which includes perpetuating sexual and spiritual harm for which he was not held accountable in his lifetime.* His melodies are so pervasive that many people associate them with traditional nusach, and they can therefore be hard to identify. At Let My People Sing!, we intentionally de-center Carlebach’s music in the musical landscape we co-create. We ask our staff and program faculty to avoid teaching Carlebach melodies in LMPS space, and our prayer leaders to limit his music in services. While LMPS staff and faculty will not teach Carlebach melodies at LMPS, we may use some of his melodies in ritual and prayer, and do not prohibit these melodies from being sung in the space overall. 

For further information on how LMPS is holding and thinking about this, you can read our full policy. If you have questions, please feel free to be in touch with us directly. You can email info@letmypeoplesing.org. 

*Learn more in Lilith’s 1998 investigation, “Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s Shadow Side,” by Sarah Blustain (CW: Sexual assault), and Lilith’s 20 year follow up “You’ve Come a Long Way, Sister: 20 Years After Carlebach Allegations, His Daughter Hears #MeToo”  Read a potent piece written by LMPS teacher, Arielle Rivera Korman, on “The Pain of Singing Carlebach.”

How will we approach gathering in a time of heightened polarization within the Jewish community?

You can check out our Community Guidelines for this summer’s retreat. Please read over this document, before registering for this retreat.

A taste of retreats past

Song Sessions

Sessions are led by a wide array of song leaders using a variety of formats.  Some include histories and stories, others just be about singing the songs themselves.  No instruments are used on Shabbat unless otherwise noted.

Shabbat Services & Practice

Shabbat services are offered Friday night and Saturday morning. with multiple prayer options including Traditional Egalitarian and Creative services. Creative services often use instruments and amplification, and will be noted as such on the schedule.

To keep this space accessible to folks with varying relationships to halchic observance, we ask everyone to refrain from using electronics in public space on shabbat. If there is a session that uses instruments it will be noted.

Community Sing

Let My People Sing!’s format for sharing and learning songs in community. A space for leading, teaching, singing and sharing.

Participatory Havdalah, Concert & Dance Party

Beginning with havdalah, the Saturday night concert features the lead teachers and Let My People Sing! staff sharing songs we’ve sung throughout the weekend, and ends with a dance party!

Jewish Outdoor, Food & Environmental Fun!

Make pickles, explore the woods, and take a tour of the Isabella Freedman farm alongside their Adamah fellows.

Sample Schedule

Here is a sample schedule to give you an idea of the flow of the retreat. We will be adjusting this schedule as we continue to plan and refine the program for this summer’s retreat.