44
Friday, April 19, 1985
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
GOD LE
JUDAISM
From a beginning marked by virtual
damnation, Humanistic Judaism has
survived more than 20 years and is
laying the groundwork for its future.
BY HEIDI PRESS
Local News Editor
More than 20 years since its
founding, which was marked by verbal
attacks from Jews and non-Jews for its
declaration of a God-less approach to
belief, Humanistic Judaism survives
and is spreading.
Founded in 1963 in Detroit by
Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, the movement
has grown to encompass a membership
of 17,000 nationwide with a following
in Israel of about 1,000 persons.
The principles of Humanistic
Judaism are based on celebrating "the
best in man," rather than on the wor-
ship of a Divine Being. Holidays are
celebrations of life, observed as cul-
tural events.
The Humanist Jewish code re-
volves around seven basic tenets: self-
respect, where attaining self-esteem is
life's goal, rather than God's approval;
humanism, a declaration of what man
can do; autonomy, where man derives
the right to rule his own' life from his
need for self-respect, not from God;
community, it is necessary to need
others in order to develop; rationality,
looking at the facts; religion, where
one finds meaning in the celebration of
life; and Judaism, from contemporary
man's ties to his history.
Rabbi Wine, the congregational
leader of the Birmingham Temple in
Farmington Hills and the founder of
the temple and of Humanistic
Judaism, which he calls a fourth al-
ternative in Jewish life, capsulized the
belief system of his movement:
"Humanistic Judaism affirms
basically three things: It affirms first
of all that the real world is the world
that we live in — the natural world.
For us, that's the one and only world.
Human beings have the power to solve
their own problems through the affir-
mation of their own power. We believe
in the value of Jewish identity and the
value of Jewish identity for us comes
from Jewish history. The message of
Jewish history to us is very clear: we
cannot rely on the kindness of the
fates. We have to rely on ourselves .. .
If we don't take care of our fates no-
body else is going to arrange it. There-
fore our Jewish experience reinforces
our humanistic view of life."
Today, Wine says he no longer
encounters the hostility he was met
with during the movement's infancy.
Nonetheless, some still exists.
"There have been three responses
to us over the years: people who like
what we have to say; people who don't
agree with us, but believe we have an
important function in the community;
and people who are hostile to our
enterprise. The second group has in-
creased over the years. I think there's
been a growing acceptance."
Elaborating, Wine said that
members of his congregation are
active participants in the general
Jewish community. Secondly, large
numbers of persons from the Jewish
community, who are not members of
the congregation, attend ceremonies
and programs at the temple.
He added that when the temple
had applied for membership to the
Jewish Community Council or Syna-
gogue Council of Detroit, it was ac-
cepted for membership, and has been
affiliated with both for many years.
Beginning with an eight-family
membership the temple grew to 140 in
its first two years. Today, Wine says,
there are "355 member units" —
families and single members.
Nationwide, about 17,000 persons
affiliate with secular/Humanistic
Judaism. There are 3,000 members of
the Society for Humanistic Judaism,
4,000 members in the Congress of Sec-
ular Jewish Organizations and 10,000
members in Workmen's Circle. Local
affiliates include the Jewish Parents
- Institute, Sholem Aleichem Institute,
the Birmingham Temple and Work-
men's Circle.
Fifteen congregations are affil-
iated with the Society for Humanistic
Judaism. They are in England; Balti-
more, Md.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Wash-
ington, D.C.; Clearwater, Fla.;
Plainsboro, N.J.; Deerfield, Ill.; East
Norwalk, Conn.; New York; Israel;
Newton, Mass.; Long Beach, N.Y.;
Fayetteville, N.Y.; and Pittsford, N.Y.
The society prints a magazine,
Humanistic Judaism, which made its
debut in 1967 and comes out quarterly.
Wine published his Humanistic
Judaism (Prometheus Books) in 1978.
It is currently out of print, with a re-
vised edition forthcoming.
Although Wine was ordained at
the Hebrew Union College (Reform),
his congregation does not use any
standard prayerbook. Instead, he de-
vised his own entitled Meditation
Services for Humanistic Judaism.
Services revolve around universal
themes: beauty, courage, freedom,
friendship, happiness, honesty, hope,
humanism, idealism, individualism,
internationalism, love, loyalty, peace,
realism, reason, self-respect, univer-
salism, wisdom and wonder. Hebrew
songs are interspersed, and Wine's lec-
tures are filled with ideas of the great
thinkers and philosophers. He also has
created his own High Holiday prayer-
book and Haggadah.
The first services conducted by the
congregation included the Shema,
Borchu, and Kaddish, but these were
dropped for the inclusion of the writ-
ings of the great thinkers, including
Ahad HaAm, Theodor Herzl, Albert
Einstein, Erich Fromm, Bertrand
Russell, Jean-Paul Sarrte and Albert
Camus, to name a few. Services do in-
clude, however, some Psalms and
prayers where God is not the subject.
In practice, Humanistic Jews
light , Sabbath candles, recite Kiddush,
read the Torah and sing Israeli songs.
But they invoke no blessings over the
Sabbth candles, for example, they
simply recite, "Shabbat Shalom."
Looking at Wine as he stands be-
fore his congregation, in a pinstriped
suit, one has the impression that they
are about to hear a corporate executive
talk about upward trends in the com-
pany's growth. Instead, what the audi-
E.?o1k6e hears is a man who is well read
.mfdl witty. His topics include current