Bring Jewish Meditation Home:
Introducing Sacred Ground
Dear friend
Practicing with others is a different experience than practicing alone. When we're part of a group, we support each other. We help each other sustain regular practice and realize our intentions. We learn and deepen together, without having to generate all the momentum on our own. We become part of something larger and shared, and we're nourished by it.
Many of you have found something meaningful in practice here at Or HaLev. Perhaps at times you have wanted to share it with friends, family or your local community. Now we're making that much easier.
We're delighted to introduce Sacred Ground: An Introduction to Jewish Meditation, a new eight-session course designed to be led by groups themselves, with no trained meditation teacher needed.
Session titles and core practices
1) Sacred Ground: Grounding
2) Each Day’s Portion: Allowing
3) Built on Kindness: Kindness and care
4) From the Narrow Place: Turning toward difficulty
5) Taste and See: Turning toward goodness
6) Shema: Listening and discerning
7) In the Image: Interpersonal awareness
8) Choosing Life: Bringing it together and into your life
We're inviting you to consider becoming a convener: gathering a small group, in your home, another local venue or online, and journeying through the course together.
You don't need to be a teacher. Everything is prepared for you:
A complete eight-session curriculum, including Jewish wisdom texts, discussion questions and meditations
Facilitator guides for every session, with every word written out: the grounding, the text and discussion questions, the meditation, and the closing.
Recorded meditations for every session, so your group can practice along with a recording instead of reading a script, if you prefer.
Materials for your participants: a welcome guide, a summary sheet after each session with recordings for practicing between sessions, and Or HaLev's guide to finding safety, stability and support in practice.
Shared leadership built in. You don't have to lead every session. The course is designed so that group members take turns guiding, reading and keeping time, with clear guidance for first-timers.
And you won't be on your own. We offer:
An orientation before your group begins
Individual guidance and support from Or HaLev throughout
Monthly gatherings with other conveners held by Or HaLev's Program Director Zac Newman
Some financial support (for at least the first groups, within the budget that we have)
You commit to:
Gathering a small group of 6–15 people
Meeting for all eight sessions, weekly or bi-weekly, for 60 or 75 minutes each
Completing a short survey at the start and end, and inviting your participants to do the same
Who thrives in this role?
Someone with warmth, reliability and a desire to serve this growing community
Connected to a local Jewish community, or eager to help build one
Open to learning and growing alongside their group
No particular level of meditation or facilitation experience is required. If you've been touched by practice and feel drawn to share it, we'd love to hear from you.
Or HaLev is part of a wider research project run by the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah, exploring small-group Jewish wisdom practices. This new offering is part of that work.
We're excited about what this could make possible: small circles of practice, rooted in Jewish wisdom, springing up in neighborhoods and online communities, held by people like you.
Meet Your Teachers
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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.
Any Questions?
Be in touch at zacn@orhalev.org