Our Team

Rabbi Danny Newman

Danny is the Founding Partner of HaMakom. He has been teaching and practising meditation for over 10 years and is a student of Reb Zalman Shechter Shalomi. He works closely with Reform Judaism and is the spiritual leader of the Elstree & Borehamwood Masorti Community. Previously he read Jewish Studies at Oxford University, trained in psychotherapy and worked for many years as a corporate lawyer in the City of London. He is a certified Integral Development Coach.

Rabbi James Jacobson Maisels

James directs the vision of Or HaLev & is a devotee of mindfulness practice. Ordained by Rav Daniel Landes, with a doctorate in Jewish Studies from the University of Chicago, Rav James lectures internationally on Jewish Spiritual practices. He also teaches at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Haifa University & Yeshivat Hadar. He strives to integrate his study with his practice, & to help teach & live Judaism as a spiritual discipline.

Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg

Sheila served as a congregational rabbi for seventeen years and has published widely on such topics as feminism, spiritual direction, parenting, social justice and mindfulness from a Jewish perspective. Rabbi Weinberg has taught mindfulness meditation and yoga to rabbis, Jewish professionals and lay people in the context of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. She serves as a spiritual director to a variety of Jewish clergy including students and faculty at HUC-JIR in New York. She is creator and co-leader of the Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Program.

Bev Cohen

Bev has been practising meditation for 25 years and it is central to her life. She has facilitated a regular weekly meditation group in north London and teaches one to one sessions in Brighton. She has qualified in mindfulness-based approaches for teaching (MBCT/MBSR) with the NHS. She has had the privilege of sitting with some of the world’s best meditation teachers.

Gidon Fineman

Gidon trained to teach mindfulness at the Oxford University Mindfulness Centre (OMC). He has taught mindfulness courses for Oxford University students, as well as co-teaching on the OMC’s 8-week MBCT course for the general public. Gidon is delighted to be a member of the HaMakom teaching faculty.

Mika Hadar

Mika comes from a long line of Hasidic healers. Being trained in a variety of mind-body systems including the Alexander Technique, Hatha Yoga and Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Mika has developed the unique practice of Subtle Yoga. Her work explores the subconscious self-alignment and self -healing capacity of the body alongside re-education through Subtle Yoga. At the heart of her work is an emphasis on Psychophysical integration. Mika is based in London and teaches internationally.

Rabbi Daniel Silverstein

Daniel received his ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in New York, and is past Director of Jewish Life & Learning for Hillel at Stanford University. He is an accredited meditation teacher, and teaches at Pardes, Romemu Yeshiva, and the OU and is the founder of Applied Jewish Spirituality.org, a platform for online exploration of Jewish spirituality. He read Social & Political Science at Cambridge University.

Zac H. Newman

Zac H. Newman is HaMakom’s Operations Manager. He is responsible for the day-to-day running of our organisation. In addition to this role, Zac works freelance as a teacher of mindfulness and meditation. He teaches in schools, one-to-one, in workplaces and in public groups. Meditation practice and Judaism have both been profound influences for him, and through HaMakom he is delighted and inspired to be able to combine them.

Our volunteers and trustees

HaMakom graciously thanks our many volunteers and our board of trustees who give their time and professional skills to support HaMakom grow awareness and practice of Jewish Mindfulness Meditation in the UK.