In honor of Tu B’shvat, the Jewish New Year for trees, we have an interview with Gillian Freedman author of Jews Milk Goats, the true story of how she and her spouse moved from North London to a small holding in rural Bedfordshire called The Gables. When the book was sent through our Suggest A Book Form, we knew immediately this would make a great feature for the holiday. Gillian was incredibly cordial, provided all the amazing photos that accompany the interview, and shared that at The Gables they plant a tree every year for Tu B’shvat. So settle in and get to know her with the interview!
BookishlyJewish: When I first read the cover copy for the book, I couldn’t help but smile. It’s such an interesting, and potentially hilarious situation. Without giving too much away, can you talk a little about why you left North London to take up farming?
Gillian Freedman: Back in the 1970s my husband, Jeremy, and I left London for the first time to live on a small patch of land in a cottage with a thatched roof. We had the hippy dream of “living off the land” and we did this for nearly five years until we had one child and another on the way. We realized that Devon, a county in the West of England, was too far from our families and Jewish life and we also needed to further our careers – mine as a physical therapist and Jeremy as an attorney.
We became fully immersed in communal Jewish life in London as well as joining sports teams and giving our growing children a rich cultural diet. Our son and daughter benefited from the close relationship they developed with their grandparents and great grandparents. Family Friday nights and synagogue on Shabbat shaped our week.
Then, 30 years after we returned to London, the children had grown up and established families of their own and Jeremy and I were ready for a new adventure. We could have stayed within our cosy North London Jewish cocoon but we were both restless and felt that the time was right to spread our wings before the window of opportunity closed and we became too old and set in our ways.
We bought a run down house and five acres that were only 60 miles from London and yet in the heart of the rural county of Bedfordshire. There was a 300-year old barn and stable block that had almost fallen down. The field and garden had lain fallow for over 40 years and we were keen to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We like a challenge and knocking The Gables into shape would prove to be the most rewarding challenge of our long marriage.
Although our friends and family were concerned about our ability to work, to farm and continue to live an observant Jewish life we were convinced that we could do it all.
BookishlyJewish: There are many, many rules in Judaism about farming and caring for animals. Can you talk a little about if any of this impacted your experience?
Gillian Freedman: In the second paragraph of the shema we learn that we Jews must care for our animals before we satisfy our own needs. That translates into getting up early in the morning to feed and water the livestock and to milk the goats before we come inside to daven and then have our breakfast.
On Shabbat our lighting and heating in the house is on a time switch. During the week we have a small, electric machine that we use to milk the goats. On Shabbat we hand milk as we cannot turn the electricity off and on. Jewish law states that we are not allowed to use that milk for ourselves on Shabbat. The cats, Nigel and Mabel, are delighted to help us by lapping up saucers of surplus milk.
At Passover we sell our animals, their food and their housing in the same way that we sell our chametz.
We do not castrate any of our lambs, kids, or calves because this is forbidden in Jewish law.
Jeremy is a keen beekeeper and he has been investigating how it is that Jews are permitted to eat honey which is the product of the bee, which is a non kosher creature. He has an answer but it would take at least an hour to explain the reason! Suffice to say Jews are allowed to eat honey but only from one species the Western Honeybee, apis mellifera.
BookishlyJewish: Does Judaism inform your farming experience and connection to the land?
Gillian Freedman: When we read the Torah we can see that Judaism is an agricultural religion, tied to seasons and harvests, animal welfare, sacrifices and tithes and much, much more.
As Jews have become, for the most part, urban dwellers the connection to the land has been lost. Jeremy and I not only live in harmony with the land, the seasons and the animals but we appreciate the laws that we read in the Torah that relates to all these agricultural issues.
Our flock of sheep are Jacob sheep, the very same species that Jacob took from his uncle Laban when he worked for him in order to be given the hand of Rachel. The DNA of Jacob sheep has been traced back to the middle east and in recent years Jacob sheep have been reintroduced to Israel by a couple from Canada.
Above all I see and experience the Creator’s hand in the beauty that I experience at The Gables every single day and, as so many of our visitors say, “It is a small slice of Gan Eden.”
BookishlyJewish: What was the most surprising thing about the experience for you?
Gillian Freedman: From the outset we decided to be “out and open” about our Jewish identity and customs. Our neighbours would either accept us as we were or reject us. Not only have we been embraced by the community but they have shown a great interest in our Judaism, the Sabbath and the festivals, and are tremendously respectful. When I sat shiva for my mother many of my local friends paid condolence visits. We hold an annual Chanukah party and our friends surprise us by the number of latkes and donuts they can eat in one evening. They understand that we cannot eat in their houses and they are delighted to eat in ours! After the October 7th massacre and atrocities I received message after message of concern and support from my local non-Jewish friends in the village and those in the nearby town. This support has continued and this sympathy has been far greater than my Jewish friends in London have received from their non-Jewish colleagues and acquaintances.
BookishlyJewish: At some point you obviously sat down and decided to write a book about this journey. How did you come to that decision and was it hard to write?
Gillian Freedman: I have been a “scribbler” all my life and I have always wanted to write a book. I worked, brought up a family, ran a charity in my spare time for over 20 years and then took on the project at The Gables. My widowed mother passed away nearly two years ago. She and I were the best of friends and adored each others company. I would drive up and down to London twice a week to see her. When she died I knew that it was a case of now or never for me to sit down and start that book that I had promised I would write. The catalyst was buying the goats – but that is a long story and in the book. I started to write last year in January. Completely changed the format and shape in March and it was completed in late summer 2023.
BookishlyJewish: Is there an intended audience for the book?
Gillian Freedman: It is a book for everyone and anyone.
The book has been read by secular Jewish readers who have told me that they have learnt a great deal about our Jewish calendar and festivals.
Religious Jews have responded to the history of the Jews in England and the stories of the animals.
Non-Jewish readers (many in the county) have told me that I was the first Jew they had ever met and now they have a greater understanding of Jewish life and practice from reading the book.
There really is, as my brother and children tell me, something for everyone. Whether it is history, or farming, religion, animal welfare, funny stories and sad ones too. It is all there but with, I hope and have been told, a light touch.
BookishlyJewish: What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
Gillian Freedman: I would like my Jewish readers to know that they can have the courage to be proud and observant Jews in whatever setting they live. If we are true to ourselves and our lifestyle then I believe that others will show us respect. I want non-Jewish readers to understand our history and to realize that we are few in number, have survived many persecutions, but that we can contribute positively to society wherever we make our home.
BookishlyJewish: How did the goat, out of all the animals you cared for, get the place of honor in the books title?
Gillian Freedman: We sold our cows during the Covid Lockdowns. We had never milked our cattle but had allowed them to feed their calves for a year. Although Jeremy was very fond of the cows I was somewhat intimidated by their size and when the goats came into our lives I fell in love with them straight away. All our visitors, young and old, are drawn to the goats. In fact it was because of the research that I did when we bought the goats that I actually decided to write the book. Besides which Willow, the leader of the herd, is not an animal to be ignored. She would have been extremely grumpy if I had not put her on the cover of the book!
BookishlyJewish: Fun fact about goats our readers might not know?
Gillian Freedman: Goats are highly intelligent creatures. They are affectionate and enjoy cuddles and kisses. Contrary to popular myth they do not “eat everything and anything.” They are actually very discerning about their diet and if their hay falls on the ground they will not touch it.
BookishlyJewish: I always end by asking every author if they have a favorite Jewish book to recommend to our readers.
Gillian Freedman: I recommend the book Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky. As a young man of 23 years of age he set out to save the abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. His quest grew and grew and although at the outset experts thought that only 70,000 Yiddish texts still existed he has so far rescued over 1.5 million Yiddish books.
A breath of Fresh Air literally and metaphorically