Our volunteers and trustees
HaMakom thanks our many volunteers and our board of trustees who give their time and professional skills to support HaMakom, and grow the awareness and practice of Jewish mindfulness meditation in the UK.
Zac Newman is HaMakom’s Community Director. He leads our organisation operationally. Zac also teaches Jewish meditation widely, including for Or HaLev and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Zac is a long-time teacher of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme. He trained to teach mindfulness through the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University. Prior to this he studied Theology at the University of Cambridge, and then spent a fellowship in the graduate school at Yale University. Zac is continually interested in how we can wake up to the wisdom of our tradition and the goodness of our lives.
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.
Bev has been practising meditation for over 25 years, mainly in the Insight tradition. She is an NHS-trained Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy/Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher and a graduate of Yesod, the Jewish meditation programme from Or HaLev and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Bev facilitates meditation groups in person and online for HaMakom and secular organisations and gives one to one sessions. She is a member of the Community Dharma Leader system at Gaia House, Devon, UK. Bev is a student of the late Rob Burbea and his teaching influences her approach. Bev is also a long-term practitioner of interfaith dialogue.
Gidon trained in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) at Oxford University’s Mindfulness Centre (OMC). He has taught MBCT courses in North London as well as teaching mindfulness courses for Oxford University students, workplace groups, secondary school teachers, and at the OMC for the general public. Alongside working with MBCT, Gidon teaches mindfulness meditation retreats HaMakom. He also works within NHS adult mental health services. Gidon is a registered teacher with the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA), and follows the OMC’s Guiding Ethical Principles.
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. At the heart of her work is an emphasis on psycho-physical integration. Mika is based in London and teaches internationally.
Roland is the Chairman of HaMakom. He speaks and writes about the traditional sources for Jewish contemplative thought and practice. His new book on the subject, Sapphire Mind, is recently published. Roland is also a property lawyer, a synagogue chazan (“the English Cantor”), a past exhibitioner of Oxford University (reading Classics), and a member of the Athenaeum Club.
Mira is a Paris-born scholar and teacher of Jewish spirituality and meditation. She earned a Ph.D. in Sociology of Religion at Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (EHESS) and is a Post-Doctoral Golda Meir Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as at the Oxford Center for Judaism and Hebrew Studies, researching the phenomenon of Judaism and Buddhism as well as Jewish Meditation. A certified Jewish Mindfulness Teacher with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), Mira has received Orthodox Smicha from the Yeshiva Har’El in Jerusalem.
HaMakom thanks our many volunteers and our board of trustees who give their time and professional skills to support HaMakom, and grow the awareness and practice of Jewish mindfulness meditation in the UK.