How can I feel more Loved and Connected?
What does it mean to actually experience connection, rather than just feel it or think about it? At a panel discussion before a screening at
October 27, 2025
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“They don’t mention this on the retreat website — what can really happen over seven days of silence. But sometimes, around the fourth day, a stillness arrives… Sweet, undeniable.”
Filmmaker Jonathan Perlman attends a seven-day silent retreat in the California desert. Ten hours a day of sitting and walking meditation. No talking. No phones. Just silence.
The retreat follows traditional Buddhist practice, led by a rabbi who weaves in Hebrew chants and Jewish teachings. Perlman didn’t come looking for religion—he came looking for something he couldn’t name.
This film shows what happened when he sat still long enough to feel it.
For twenty years, meditation felt like a chore. I’d sit. Nothing would happen. I’d watch the clock.
Then I spent seven days in silence in the California desert, and everything changed.
What made the difference? Time, maybe. Or the setting. Or finding a teacher who made it feel real. I’m still not sure.
What I know: I wasn’t alone. Others felt something beyond words too.
This film shows what I can’t quite explain—what happens when you sit long enough for meditation to finally take hold.
Jonathan Perlman spent seven years reinventing a music retail chain as CDs became obsolete, then traveled to India, came home and opened a yoga studio in midtown Toronto. Seven years later, looking to add meditation classes to his schedule, he attended his first silent retreat. He kept going back. He filmed this retreat over three years and edited it for longer than he’d like to admit. He made it for anyone who, like him, thought meditation didn’t work—until it finally did. This is his first documentary in twenty years.
Each event can include:
– A 90-minute program combining the film screening with an in-person discussion or guided meditation workshop led by the filmmaker.
– Themed around meditation for people who feel meditation doesn’t work for them, exploring how silence, presence, and Jewish language can open new possibilities for healing.
To discuss hosting a screening or workshop, please reach out below
What does it mean to actually experience connection, rather than just feel it or think about it? At a panel discussion before a screening at
For years, I tried to make meditation work. After meeting a teacher on vacation, I joined a weekly group and kept at it for years.