Small Steps to Great Miracles:
A Hanukkah Meditation Journey by Or HaLev
December 14-22, 2025
30 minute meditation delivered to your inbox each day of Hanukkah,
with a 75 minute live Zoom session on Sunday, December 21, 2025
Hanukkah is the celebration of a great miracle: a small quantity of oil that lasted eight days, just enough to prepare new oil to rededicate the Temple.
For Emmanuel Levinas, before this miracle could take place, there had to be another prior to that: there had to be just one flask of oil left intact, protected unseen under the ruins.
So it goes in spiritual practice: great progress and transformation starts with the miracle of just one small light that persists. As long as we are alive, this light is within us.
Spiritual practice is the inner work by which, patiently and consistently, day after day, we reconnect to this inner light and nurture it until it illuminates the space around us and beyond.
Join us this Hanukkah as we journey from reconnecting to our inner light to manifesting the miracle.
Join Mira and Zac for 8 days of spiritual practice to connect to the miracle of Hanukkah.
Each day throughout Hanukkah, you will receive a half-hour guided meditation in your inbox.
On Sunday, December 21st, we will meet on Zoom for a live teaching and an opportunity to connect to the greater community of practitioners.
There will also be an interactive space open throughout Hanukkah for sharing practice experiences and intentions for each day as we journey together.
Our journey will include a meditation for each day of Hanukkah:
Day 1 / One light: It starts with one
Day 2 / Two lights: Tending day by day
Day 3 / Three lights: We only go up in holiness
Day 4 / Four lights: Being the lights
Day 5 / Five lights: Basking and radiating
Day 6 / Six lights: Being a miracle
Day 7 / Seven lights: Manifesting the miracle: A great miracle happens here
Day 8 / Eight lights: Live session!
A live teaching on Sunday, December 21 at 10:30am PST/1:30pm EST/6:30pm UK/8:30pm Israel
This course is an invitation to:
Explore the richness of Hanukkah as an embodied experience from the Jewish tradition
Connect with profound and timeless resources of heart and mind through various practices
Play at your growing edges by reconnecting to the meaning of ancient rituals
Meet sacredness and divinity right where you are
Share a Jewish meditative journey with others around the world
Who is this for?
This series is open to all, from beginner to advanced meditators and whatever your relationship with Jewish life is like. It provides a welcoming and supportive space to connect with others on a shared path of exploration and growth, and will offer mutual encouragement and support on your meditative journey in a Jewish spiritual framework.
Meet Your Teachers
-

Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Niculescu
Mira teaches Jewish texts and spiritual practices as a way of life. She is a Doctor in the Socio-Anthropology of Religion, an ordained Rabbah from the modern Orthodox yeshiva Harel in Jerusalem and a certified teacher of mindfulness meditation and yoga. For over 10 years she has been sharing her exploration of Torah, Hasidut, Mussar, and Jewish meditation in English, Hebrew and French.
Born in Paris, living in Jerusalem, she writes and teaches globally online and in person, inviting students to dive deep into their own inner work (tikkun atsmi) as a way to contribute, one person at a time, to the tikkun (repair) of the world. -

Zac Newman
Zac is Or HaLev Program Director & Teacher. He has been practicing mindfulness since 2008 and teaching practice since 2013. He trained to teach mindfulness through the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University. Prior to his role at Or HaLev, Zac was the Community Director of HaMakom, the UK-based Jewish meditation organisation. Zac is a long-standing student of religious studies and psychotherapy. He is a rabbinical student in the ALEPH Ordination Program, and he is continually interested in how we can realize the wisdom of our tradition and the goodness of our lives.
Choose your Rate
At Or HaLev, we believe in the spirit of generosity as an essential part of practice. We also acknowledge that financial abilities differ for everyone. We strive to make this offering accessible to those who wish to participate, regardless of ability to pay.
Please consider paying at the highest rate that you are able to. Your generosity enables this retreat to happen and helps support Or Halev's activities and grow our community.
Standard Rate
Sustainer Rate
Scholarship Rate
We Are Here
Any questions? Please email Zac Newman, at zacn@orhalev.org

