In the Season of Silence

The darkness of winter is essential to creation. It is a necessary condition of our physical and spiritual vitality. As the Talmud teaches:

“Such is the way of creation: first it is dark, then it is light.” (Shabbat 77b)

Hibernating plants and animals teach us this too. The quiet and stillness of the colder months create the space and time for growth and renewal, which at first lie unseen beneath the surface. We are invited by Nature to drop into silence.

This is also the power of Shabbat: a time to pause and let things process. On meditation retreat, these qualities of being come together naturally. As we take time away from the business of everyday life, as we sit quietly with what is, we give ourselves an opportunity to explore together the transformative power of resting within, and the quality of deep resilience which it cultivates.

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

Please join us as together we create community in silence, presence, singing and celebrating Shabbat. The retreat will include sitting meditation, walking meditation, sacred chanting, Shabbat practice, talks, Q&A and the opportunity to share your experiences in the safety of small facilitated groups. 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. The retreat will also offer optional periods of movement practice. There will be space and time for 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.

Our venue is the beautiful and peaceful St. Cassian’s Centre, Wallingtons Road, Kintbury, Berkshire RG17 9SR.

About Rabbah Dr Mira Niculescu
Mira is a Paris-born scholar and teacher of Torah and Meditation. She earned a Ph.D. in Sociology of Religion at Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (EHESS) and received Orthodox Smicha ordination from Rabbi Daniel Sperber for Beit Midrash Har’El in Jerusalem. Mira is a certified Jewish Educator (Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies), a certified Jewish Mindfulness Teacher with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), a certified Vinyasa Yoga teacher (Sira Yoga RYT 200), and a certified Mindfulness Meditation Instructor (Mindfulness Training Institute). A firm believer that making the world a better place starts with each of us, she works internationally at helping people turn within so they can better connect to others and to Life from a place of Presence, Gratitude and Kindness. When she’s not learning Torah, sitting or traveling to teach, she works at her illustration book and dreams of finding the recipe to the perfect Challah.

About Zac Newman
Zac is HaMakom’s Community Director. As well as leading our organisation, Zac 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.

If you have a question or would like to discuss this retreat please contact Zac, at: zac@hamakom.community.

The retreat will begin at 2.00pm on Friday 29 November and will end at 4.00pm on Sunday 1 December 2024.

Registration will be from 12.00pm to 1.30pm on Friday 29 November. Please arrive at St. Cassian’s Retreat Centre between 12.00pm and 1.30pm.

There is the option to eat an informal lunch together at the retreat centre at 12.30pm on Friday 29 November. 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 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 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 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.

We also offer an onsite camping option. Please be in touch if you would like to know more about this.

At the end of the retreat, you will be invited to give donations to support Mira’s 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 Mira.

Retreat Rates (for onsite and offsite accommodation)

The rates for this retreat are at three levels: Standard, Scholarship and Supporter.

Standard Rate: the Standard Rate is £255 and covers the basic running costs of the retreat. If you choose accommodation offsite, the Standard Rate is £205.

Scholarship Rate: the Scholarship Rate is £150, and is available to all who cannot afford the Standard rate.

Supporter Rate: the Supporter Rate is £300. If you are in a position to do so, we invite you to pay a higher registration fee. This supports HaMakom and helps us to continue to offer places on retreat to those with more limited finances. Our deep aspiration is that the gifts of retreat should be equally available to everyone who seeks them, regardless of financial or any other circumstances. If you choose accommodation offsite, the Supporter Rate is £250.

Single Room: We have a number of rooms available for single occupancy at a supplement of £55. 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.

Cancellations
Cancellations before Friday 15 November 2024 are fully refundable, less a £15 administration fee. Cancellations less than 2 weeks in advance are not refundable.

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.

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