Chanukah Half-Day Meditation Retreat

The Eighth Light:

A Chanukah & Winter Solstice Half-Day Meditation Retreat

In person in the Boston area | guided by Alison Cohen & Dr. Jes Golden

Dec. 21st, 2025 | 1:30-6 pm ET

Sponsored by RUACH

FULL EVENT DETAILS PAGE HERE

Why this half-day retreat?

Join us for a contemplative half-day Jewish meditation retreat in the Boston area, marking a potent moment in the cycle of the year: the final day of Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh Tevet, and the winter solstice. As we kindle the eighth light while marking the longest night of the year, we gather to reflect, center, and integrate all we have learned since the High Holy Days. 

We will honor this sacred threshold through guided and silent meditation, gentle movement, reflective practice, and wisdom from our tradition: how does the interplay of light and darkness invite us to return to ourselves, to community, and the Mystery? During this era of uncertainty and disruption, embodied practice and Jewish teachings will support us in nourishing and resourcing the heart.

Chanukah is a rich time to circle back to the intentions and insights from the High Holy Days. What has the journey from Rosh Hashanah to now revealed in us, in our lives? What are we ready to release as the light begins its return and we contemplate how our bodies, minds, and souls can be of service in the work of tikkun olam, repairing the world? What inner light are we cultivating to carry through Jewish time and through the Gregorian new year?

Together, we'll create space for looking back with compassion and looking forward with intention, grounded in mindful presence and the wisdom of the Jewish calendar's cycles.

All are warmly welcome to join us, regardless of your Jewish knowledge base and meditation practice experience. You will receive the address of the retreat location after you register.

If you have any questions about accessibility, please get in touch.

Cost & Registration

This retreat is being offered on a tiered sliding scale. Please choose the rate that best fits your current circumstances. All rates provide full access to every aspect of the retreat.

Sustainer Rate: $72 (Register here.)

• The standard cost of participating in this retreat

  
  

Supported Rate: $36 (Register here.)

• Generously subsidized by a donor for young adults ages 17-39, and available to anyone who needs a reduced rate

  
  

Giver Rate: $108 (Register here.)

• The standard cost + a generous contribution of $36 to support those who need reduced rates

Teaching Team

After Alison and Jes co-taught together on a multi-day Institute for Jewish Spirituality residential meditation retreat, a friendship was born! It’s a joy for them to offer this half-day retreat together.

Dr. Jes Golden

Jes Golden (they/she—formerly Jes Heppler) is a meditation teacher and researcher who focuses on embodied experience in Jewish and Buddhist meditation. Grounded in their Sephardi and Ashkenazi lineages, Jes’ teaching weaves Jewish and earth-based spirituality with philosophical and neuroscientific insights. Jes teaches regularly for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS): they host the IJS LGBTQ+ Monthly Sit, guide the IJS Daily Sit, and lead both online and in-person programming for the IJS young adult community, Shevet. Jes has also taught for Or HaLev’s Ground & Center series. They are also a graduate of Or HaLev and IJS’s Meditation Teacher Training Program. Jes holds a PhD in Philosophy from UC Berkeley and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Possible Minds at Indiana University, where they are researching bodily awareness in Buddhist and Jewish meditation.

Alison Cohen

Alison Cohen (she/her), also known as Ali, loves supporting people in strengthening their capacity to connect: with themselves, with others, and with ancient and contemporary wisdom traditions. Ali’s journey to practice began as a young adult when she was desperate for guidance on how to compassionately navigate her tumultuous internal landscape, not to mention the world. On a young adult retreat, she found what she was looking for. Ali has practiced extensively in Buddhist and Jewish meditation spaces ever since. A former public high school teacher and mindfulness program director, Ali guides Two Wings Mindfulness. In addition, she mentors in the global Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and teaches in Tara Brach’s 2025 Year of Courageous Loving course. Ali has trained with the Jewish Mindfulness Center of Brooklyn, Mindful Schools, OrHaLev and IJS, the UMass Center for Mindfulness (MBSR), David Treleaven, Taproot’s Community Ritualist Training Program, and the International Institute for Restorative Practices, as well as under the guidance of several beloved teachers.