Dedicating Our Hearts: A Chanukah Winter Retreat

What if you gave yourself the gift of stepping away from everything for a weekend, to rest deeply, reconnect with yourself, and rediscover what truly matters?

Beginning on the first night of Chanukah, as winter darkness deepens and we kindle the first lights, we invite you to a very special weekend of stillness, connection, spiritual nourishment and renewal.

Chanukah means dedication. But what might it mean to rededicate our own hearts? To rekindle the light within us, to open more fully to life, and to cultivate greater love, compassion, joy and presence, even amidst darkness and uncertainty?

Led by Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife, a creative and visionary Jewish spiritual teacher whose work weaves together sacred song, ritual, embodied wisdom and Jewish tradition, and the HaMakom Team, we will explore these questions through Jewish mindfulness meditation, soulful prayer and chanting, the beauty of Shabbat, and the profound nourishment of shared silence.

Come and experience the rare gift of time and space simply to be. To slow down, breathe, listen deeply, nourish your soul and connect with others in a warm, welcoming and caring community.

Give yourself this precious gift. Come as you are, and leave with your heart renewed and your inner light rekindled.

We would love you to join us.

This retreat offers us the opportunity to create community in silence, with sitting meditation, walking meditation, sacred chanting, Shabbat practice, talks, Q&A and sharing experiences in the safety of small facilitated groups. Everyone is welcome, whatever experience you have or have not had – of meditation, or of Jewish traditions. This will be a unique weekend dedicated to the practice of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation, and an experience of the Jewish path to wellbeing, wisdom & awakening. 

Throughout the retreat we will maintain social silence. See the “Social Silence” tab above for an explanation of this. There will be space and time for tefillah / davening (prayer), for those that wish to. We welcome people of all ages, of all faiths or none, beginners or experienced practitioners or anyone in between.

Amid the pain, suffering, loss and division of these times, please know that you are welcome on this retreat, whoever you are, and whatever you are feeling.

Our venue is the beautiful and peaceful St. Cassian’s Centre, Wallingtons Road, Kintbury, Berkshire RG17 9SR   https://www.thekintburyexperience.com/

About Keshira:

Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife serves as Founding Kohenet of Kesher Pittsburgh and is a Core Faculty Member with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality as well as part of the faculties Jewish Studio Project and Kirva. Additionally, she is the host of the Judaism Unbound podcast series Rest to Return, and she delights in working with a variety of national Jewish organisations and communities, serving as a facilitator, teacher, life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, shlichat tzibbur, liturgist and songstress. 

Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer, bi-racial, child-free Jewish person living with chronic illness, her belief that Book, Body and Earth are equal sources of wisdom, the quandaries she has encountered as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School, and her deep commitment to a thriving, liberatory Jewish future. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS (2000) and MS (2001) at Carnegie Mellon University. Though both the lands of the Osage & Haudenosaunee people (aka Pittsburgh, PA) and the Gadigal people (Sydney, AUS) feel like home, Keshira and her beloved have been in an extended period of travel since January 2023.

The retreat will begin at 1.45pm on Friday 4th December and will end at 4.00pm on Sunday 6th December 2026. 

Registration will be from 12.00pm to 1.15pm on Friday 4th December. Please try to arrive at St. Cassian’s Retreat Centre between 12.00pm and 1.15pm.

There is the option to eat an informal lunch together at the retreat centre at 12.30pm on Friday 4th December. 

This is an opportunity for conversation in community, before we enter into the social silence of the retreat. Anyone coming to the retreat is warmly invited to join. Please bring your own vegetarian food. 

The first delicious and nutritious meal provided by the retreat centre will be on Friday evening.

HaMakom endeavours to keep costs as low as possible, and to be accessible to everyone, regardless of financial circumstances. The price of our retreats is set to reflect just the basic costs of arranging the retreat at the beautiful St. Cassian’s Retreat Centre (https://www.thekintburyexperience.com/), outside the village of Kintbury in Berkshire. This includes all meals and basic accommodation, in double rooms and with shared bathrooms.

The meals provided by the retreat centre will all be vegetarian. We are also able to offer vegan, dairy free and gluten free options. If this does not suit your kashrut 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.

We  also offer the option for you to be an offsite participant and to arrange your own more luxurious accommodation. If you prefer this option you will pay a reduced rate and will need to make your own accommodation arrangements. Please see details below of hotels that participants have previously stayed in.   Alternatively, some participants have had success finding accommodation through www.airbnb.com.

If you are interested in onsite camping please be in touch.

Retreat Rates (for onsite and offsite accommodation):

The rates for this retreat are at two levels: Standard and Scholarship.  We also offer you the opportunity to be a Supporter. 

Standard Rate: the Standard Rate is £295 and covers the basic running costs of the retreat. 

If you choose accommodation offsite, the Standard Rate is £250

We hope that if your financial means allow you will choose to join us at the Standard Rate.  

Scholarship Rate: the Scholarship Rate is £170, and is available to all who cannot afford the Standard rate.   If choosing this rate would enable you to join us then please do so, you are so welcome! 

Support Someone to Attend this Retreat: it is a very special thing to have the opportunity to be on retreat in the environment of safety, support, stillness and beauty which retreat offers. Our deep wish is that these opportunities are available as widely as possible, and not limited by financial means. If you are able to, please consider making an additional donation. We will use this towards subsidising places for others to attend. In this way, you are a vessel for transformation and healing. Our suggested supporter donations are £100, £175 or £250. We are extremely grateful for any supplementary amount you are able to offer.

Single Room: We have a number of rooms available for single occupancy at a supplement of £80. If you book and pay for a single room you will be guaranteed one. If you are choosing the Scholarship Rate and need a single room please contact us to discuss this.

If you cannot afford the Scholarship rate please be in touch. No one will be turned away because of their financial circumstances.

At the end of the retreat, you will be invited to give donations to support our teachers’ livelihood, and to support HaMakom in its ongoing work. The registration fee you pay goes towards the basic costs of delivering the retreat and does not include any payment to our teachers.

Cancellations:
Cancellations received by us in writing before Wednesday 25th November 2026 are fully refundable, less a £25 fee for administration and payment processing. We will not be able to refund cancellations notified to us after 25th November.

Details of offsite accommodation:
The two hotels below are approx. a 10 minute drive from the retreat centre.

Three Swans Hotel
117 High Street, Hungerford, Berkshire, RG17 0LZ
Tel: 01488 682721
http://www.threeswans.net/

The Bear
Charnham Street, Hungerford, Berkshire, RG17 0EL
Tel: 0845 6086040
https://www.greenekinginns.co.uk/hotels/bear-hotel-hungerford/ 

There is also a more expensive hotel in the village of Kintbury itself, a few minutes’ drive from the retreat centre:

The Dundas Arms
Tel: +44 (0) 1488 658 263
53 Station Road, Kintbury Hungerford RG17 9UT
https://www.dundasarms.co.uk/ 

IMPORTANT: Please make your own arrangements with the hotel if you choose to stay offsite, and let us know where you will be staying.

The Benefits of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation

(adapted from the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, with thanks)

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 life.

Being in Peace & Quiet / Social Silence

You are invited to experience the retreat in peace & quiet/social silence. This means that from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, 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. Through 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 time with one of the teachers over the weekend, where you can share what you choose to of your experience, and receive personalised feedback and guidance.

At the start of the retreat we will explain how the silence will work, what to do if you need to speak to someone, and answer any questions you may have. You are very welcome to contact us beforehand and ask anything too.