Retreat is a gift you give to yourself

From Tisha B’Av  (the day in the Jewish calendar that honours experiences of loss, heartbreak and collective grief) to Rosh Hashanah  (the Jewish New Year and season of renewal)  the tradition invites us into a gentle inner journey. The seven weeks between these two moments are known as the “Seven Weeks of Consolation” — a time for healing, reflection, re-connection and slowly opening the heart again.

This retreat offers an opportunity to step out of the noise and intensity of daily life and enter a quieter, more spacious rhythm. Through meditation, silence, Jewish teachings, chant, mindful practice and time in nature, we will explore how we can remain present and open hearted even in difficult or uncertain times.

Together, we will practise bringing compassionate awareness to the body, to our emotions and to the movements of the mind. Recognising that we can get lost in reactivity and overwhelm, the retreat invites us to cultivate composure, compassion and clarity within ourselves and in our relationships with others.

The retreat will include periods of guided and silent meditation, yoga, gentle prayerful chanting using Hebrew melodies and sacred phrases, daily teachings, and opportunities for questions and reflection with the teachers. No previous experience of meditation or Jewish practice is required.

Throughout the retreat we will maintain social silence. Many people find that silence creates a rare sense of spaciousness and depth, allowing us to settle more fully into presence, rest and inner listening, while still feeling held within community. See the “Social Silence” tab above for a further explanation of this.

There will also be opportunities for smaller group / individual practice discussions with each of the teachers during the retreat.

We are so excited to have the rare and precious opportunity to learn in the UK with Rabbi Jeff Roth and Rabbi Joanna Katz both of whom are among the pioneering founders of the contemporary Jewish mindfulness movement and have taught Jewish meditation and spiritual practice internationally for many years. Their teaching combines deep wisdom, warmth, humility and compassion, creating spaces that are both grounded and transformative.  More details about our teachers can be found below.

The retreat will include space and time for davening (prayer) for those that wish to. We will begin the retreat with a celebration and honouring of Shabbat. We really welcome all forms of Shabbat practice or none.  Please be in touch to discuss any specific details or questions which are significant for your Shabbat observance. We will do our utmost to support your practice. We also want to let you know that chanting and prayers led by Rabbi Jeff will include the use of a guitar as this is his practice – including on Shabbat.

This is HaMakom’s 4th annual 5 night retreat.  If you have not experienced a longer retreat before we encourage you to consider it.  This longer time together offers us plenty of space and time to ease in, to settle, to open and perhaps to heal.  The possibilities for deepening both individually and collectively are profound.  We would love to share this precious time with you.

Our Venue: We return again (for the 3rd year) to the peace and beauty of Nanpantan Hall. It is a breathtaking 30-acre venue, sitting on the side of a beautiful valley within the Charnwood Forest, site of the discovery of the oldest known complex life form in the world.  With wonderful grounds, views and wildlife to rest in, explore and enjoy.

Our Food: As we feed our souls,  so we are delighted that Guimas Pina and Nicole Pisani (both Ottolenghi trained chefs) will be with us for a 4th year to provide us with delicious and nourishing food.

The meals provided by our chefs will all be vegetarian. We are also able to offer vegan, dairy free and gluten free options. If this does not suit your kashrut (Jewish dietary) practice please contact us so that we can explore what arrangements will support you. We aim to accommodate everyone’s dietary and kashrut requirements, as best we can. Please be sure to give us full details in your registration form.   

As with all HaMakom retreats, we are delighted to welcome people of all ages (18+), of all faiths or none, beginners or experienced practitioners or anyone in between. No previous experience of meditation or Judaism is assumed or required. This invitation applies equally whether you’ve been on retreat a hundred times, or this would be your first retreat; whether you are clear in your intention, or whether it feels more of a step into something unknown, which you are inclined to try out trusting.

If you are moved to join, please complete the registration form through the yellow tab above, or be in touch with Rabbi Danny Newman to ask any questions you may have at: rabbidanny@hamakom.community 

Our Teachers:

Rabbi Jeff Roth is the founder and Director of The Awakened Heart Project for Contemplative Judaism. He was the co-founder of Elat Chayyim where he served as Executive Director and Spiritual Director for 13 years. He was the co-leader of the Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training program and has facilitated over 190 Jewish meditation retreats. He is the author of, Jewish Meditation Practices for Everyday Life and Me, Myself and God from Jewish lights Publishing. Some further information about Rabbi Jeff and his teachings can be found here: https://awakenedheartproject.org/about/

Rabbi Joanna Katz attended the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and was ordained in 1988. She co-founded Elat Chayyim in 1992. She facilitates ongoing meditation in her home community of Stone Ridge, New York and has taught nationally and internationally with the Awakened Heart Project.  Joanna currently works as the Clinical Pastoral Educator (CPE) at Union Theological Seminary. She is visiting faculty at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she teaches in their Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program.  She is a student of Eastern and Western contemplative practices and lives with her family in New York’s Hudson River Valley.

Our Yoga Teacher: 

Tali Clifford is an Integral Hatha Yoga teacher and Heart Mediation Facilitator with Heart of Living Yoga. This is a gentle, integrated practice that combines hatha yoga, breath, meditation and heart‑based mindfulness. Rooted in classical yoga traditions, this approach supports self‑connection, wellbeing and living from the heart—on and off the mat.

 Tali also leads Chair Yoga and yoga for those with additional health needs as well as being a trained Child and Maternal Yoga teacher. Tali says: “I have had a personal practice for over 25 years and build yoga practices into all elements of my life and work.  I look forward to sharing gentle yoga, breath  and movement practices with you to support our meditation practice on retreat.”

Our Retreat Manager:

Sara Bensusan is a trustee of HaMakom and brings a rare combination of warmth, kindness, clarity and practical care to everything she does. Having managed many retreats, she is deeply trusted and widely loved by participants for the way she quietly attends to every detail, from food and accommodation to individual needs and personal circumstances. Sara has a gift for helping people feel welcomed, supported and genuinely cared for.

Our Chefs:

Nicole Pisani and Guimas Pina have worked together for over 12 years, first meeting at Ottolenghi’s Nopi in Soho and later joining forces at Chefs in Schools, a charity committed to transforming food in primary and secondary schools across the UK.

Their shared passion for food is rooted in a belief that it should be both nourishing and joyful. Together, they bring a holistic approach to cooking, viewing food as a vital part of supporting wellbeing, particularly in moments of retreat, reflection, and rebalancing.

Their menus are thoughtful, vibrant, and grounded in seasonal, wholesome ingredients designed to energise the body and calm the mind. Nicole and Guimas say:  We can’t wait to feed and nourish you. 

The retreat will begin at 2pm on Friday 31st July and will end after lunch at 2.00pm on Wednesday 5 August. 

Registration will be from midday to 1:30pm on Friday 31st July. Please arrive at Nanpantan Hall between midday and 1:30pm.

Here are some images of Nanpantan Hall. The image at the top of this webpage is the view from the house looking over the valley.

You can also view a short walkthrough video by clicking here. It gives a sense of the beauty of the place.

The Benefits of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation

(from: The Institute for Jewish Spirituality)

We are dedicated  to introducing this practice into the Jewish world for several reasons:

• to enliven and enhance Jewish prayer, celebration, ritual and community;
• to be part of working for the betterment of our fragile and vulnerable planet; and
• to recognize the true and deep sources of happiness in a world filled with seductive, competing and ultimately unsatisfying short-term fixes.

How can Mindfulness Meditation Help?

Mindfulness meditation is training the mind. Just as we go to the gym to make our bodies stronger and more flexible, so mind training helps make our minds more spacious, perceptive and most of all free.

We train our capacity to pay attention by turning our attention, like a flashlight, on our own minds. This helps us see more clearly the nature of our own minds. We become aware of the patterns and habits that run our lives but have not been previously visible.

We begin to realize that these patterns and habits may serve our goals, desires, and purposes – but often they do not. We start to realize that there actually is a “pause button” built into our system. This pause button can be activated when we become triggered by an event outside ourselves and are tempted to act in reactive, patterned and unskilful ways.

The “pause button” wakes us up, creates a space in our mind where we can ask the question: ”What is the skilful, wholesome, wise, goal oriented action I need to take in this moment?” “What are my choices here?” The development of this capacity for inner freedom is why we train in mindfulness. This can be profoundly useful in our lives, especially in our relationships, and in any task we undertake to realize our dreams or express our creativity.

By cultivating attention, we are also able to feel more satisfied with each moment of our experience.

We learn to rest in this moment as it unfolds.

We learn to bring our awareness to the flow of energy in the body which is the very miracle of our aliveness. We learn to be more receptive to the fullness of each moment, rather than resisting what has already occurred or projecting what is not yet here. We learn to notice the arising and passing of all experience, recognizing how short and precious this life is.

We learn to treasure each day for the miracle it is. This is itself a source of happiness. According to modern neuroscience, the mind is a dynamic flow of experiences rather than a fixed state. When we experience this for ourselves, we feel less isolated, less caught in judgment and adversity, and more open to the mystery and majesty of this very life.

Being in Peace & Quiet / Social Silence

You are invited to experience the retreat in peace & quiet/social silence. This means that from Friday evening until Wednesday lunchtime, we invite you to observe silence at all times.

Spending time in silence can be a powerful way to support the deepening of meditative calm and insight. Being together in this way is an opportunity for us to explore a degree of solitude, while having the support of the group.

Being in silence can foster a sense of safety and refuge. Letting go of the familiar world of words, we can give ourselves the opportunity to find space from the complexity of personal interaction, and to see our mind and its activity more clearly.

Experiencing life directly, rather than through language and concepts, allows us to develop insight into the way things are. This direct seeing is the foundation for inner peace, wisdom and compassion.

There will be time for asking questions. Each person will also have the opportunity for small group meetings with one or more of the teachers over the weekend, where you can share what you choose to of your experience, and receive personalised feedback and guidance.

We will explain how the silence will work, what to do if you need to speak to someone and answer any questions at the start of the retreat.