Spirituality Cover Story THE POWER OF MAN from page 39 Susan Citrin Deborah Rose with Rabbi Wine at the retirement celebration. Temple involves a presentation on an admired figure from Jewish history. "Why should they be reading some- thing that they don't understand that is chosen because it coincides with their birthday?" Rabbi Wine said. "This way, they choose someone who inspires them." Perhaps the most powerful lesson stemming from a bar mitzvah presenta- tion at Birmingham Temple was one Rabbi Wine remembers as "a story of courage." Bar mitzvah celebrant Jackson Klein spoke of his hero, Holocaust survivor Solly Ganor, on the Shabbat following Sept. 11, 2001. At the end of his presentation, Klein introduced the only out-of-town guest able to be there in light of the terrorist attacks — Ganor, who traveled from Israel. Jackson then invited Ganor to join him and celebrate with him the bar mitzvah he was denied when he was 13. While Passover is celebrated as a holiday of freedom, in Humanistic Judaism, freedom takes on a different meaning. "Freedom is not a gift, it is an achievement," Rabbi Wine said. "You can tell the story with the tradi- tional Haggadah, with the sea of mira- cles — or you can tell how we believe that those who escaped did so because of themselves. On Yom Kippur, we don't stand on trial, we celebrate because we want to live ethical, quality lives." Once the materials were prepared, it was time to respond to those in other 7/ 4 2003 40 Rabbi Silberberg Rabbi Nevins Rabbi Cohn-Sherbok towns who requested help in establish- ing their own congregations. Today, more than 40 communities of Humanistic Jews exist worldwide. Between 1969 and 1986, Rabbi Wine founded several offshoots of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, the national umbrella for the movement. These offshoots included a graduate school, a leadership conference, an international arm in Jerusalem and a professional association for Humanist leaders. A rabbinic program established in 1992 has ordained four Humanistic rabbis with two more to be ordained in October, including the first Israeli rabbi in the Humanistic Judaism movement. Who A Member? Included among the Birmingham Temple's 450 unit members — singles and families — are those who other- wise would remain unaffiliated or lost from Judaism. "Many would not have joined a congregation if they had not come to us," Rabbi Wine said. "My kids wouldn't have Judaism without Birmingham Temple," said Susan Citrin of Birmingham, a temple member for 23 years. "It is who we are. My husband grew up Reform, and I grew up with nothing. "When our daughter, Laura, was 10 — and approaching bat mitzvah age — we started thinking about joining a synagogue and Birmingham Temple fit our philosophy." She and her husband also were impressed with the unique perspective on b'nai mitzvah celebrations. "Rabbi Wine figured out that kids were more interested in learning about a hero or heroine that would stay with them," she said. "My daughter did her presentation on Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld, who she had the opportunity to speak with during her research and learn about her courage and convic- tions. Beate Klarsfeld became a part of her life and she still makes donations to the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation." When her three children attended the Sunday school at Birmingham Temple and Rabbi Wine came into the classroom, Citrin said, "They always knew they were in the presence of someone very special. There is a great depth about him. He always puts everything into an interesting perspec- tive." A recent graduate of the Birmingham Temple school, Deborah Rabbi Loss Rose, 18, of Southfield remembers being "in awe of Rabbi Wine." She remembers his organizational skills and how he taught without written notes. Rose was born into the congregation where her parents and grandparents are longtime members. Her mother, Jessica, is also a teacher in the Birmingham Temple school. Even after graduating from the school, Rose remains devoted and is spending her summer working for the Society for Humanistic Judaism before beginning fall classes at U-M in Ann Arbor. What's Next? The word "retirement" for Rabbi Wine only applies to leaving his leadership role at Birmingham Temple. "I am retiring from the temple but not from the movement," he said. He will continue to visit Humanistic congregations around the world, remain co-chair of the international Humanistic federation, lecture and Who Are Humanistic Jews? • God: Members of the Humanistic Judaism community all follow the belief that knowledge, power and solutions come from people, not a supernatural being. • Numbers: According to the 2001 American Jewish Identity Survey, about 1 percent of the adult Jewish population identified themselves as secular and-or Humanistic Jews, an estimated 41,000 of a total of about 4 million adults. • Who is a Jew? In Humanistic Judaism, a Jew is someone born to a Jewish parent or who identifies with the history, culture, struggles, tri- umphs and future of the Jewish people. • Assimilation: Resistance to assimilation comes from valuing Jewish identity. • Zionism: Humanistic Jews actively support the people of Israel, rec- ognizing the value of a Jewish state. Humanistic congregations have been established in Israel. • Funeral: The traditional funeral is replaced by a tribute to the life of deceased. • Kaddish, a prayer for the dead that praises God, is not said. • Commandments: The commandments relating to living an ethical life are followed, like those relating to not murdering or stealing; others, like, "I am thy. God..." are not. • Kashrut: While not following traditional laws of kashrut, Rabbi Wine said, "We have a moral obligation to stay healthy for ourselves and for others." .