rabbis in the U.S. and in Israel.
The movement's leadership also
created written materials and formats
that reflected Humanistic Judaism
beliefs. "We came to the conclusion
that we needed to change the service
format entirely," Rabbi Wine said of a
five- to six-year challenge. "Prayer was
out. Reading philosophy, poetry, origi-
nal creations — including my own
— were in."
B'nai mitzvah and holidays are cel-
ebrated, not observed, with Passover, a
celebration of freedom, as an achieve-
ment, not a gift, Rabbi Wine said. "You
can tell the story with the traditional
Haggadah, with the sea of miracles,
or you can tell how we believe that
those who escaped did so because of
themselves;' he said. "On Yom Kippur,
we don't stand on trial, we celebrate
because we want to live ethical, quality
lives."
Torah-observant Jews may disagree
with the philosophy of Humanistic
Judaism, but many members of
other Jewish movements have had
positive relationships with Rabbi Wine.
Birmingham Temple rabbis have been
members of the multi-stream Michigan
Board of Rabbis and the temple is a
member of the Jewish Community
Relations Council.
Today, there are more than 30
Humanistic congregations, communi-
ties and chavurot (fellowship groups)
in North America, each with rabbinic
or lay leadership, and more exist world-
wide.
Rabbi Wine retired from the
Birmingham Temple in 2003, but
remained active in the movement,
continuing to visit Humanistic con-
gregations around the world, to lead
and expand public discussions at the
Center for New Thinking, to remain co-
chair of the international Humanistic
federation, to lecture and to maintain
his position as dean of the movement's
rabbinical school.
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Temple, Baxter insisted on sitting in
the front row.
"After a few services, we received
one of those beautiful handwritten
notes that Rabbi Wine was famous for,
complimenting us on our well-behaved
child," she said.
Her husband, Bill Trapp, is now a
mainstay of the Sunday school, playing
guitar and teaching another generation
the songs of Humanistic Judaism, many
written by Rabbi Wine himself.
"He was a great, great man," com-
mented Milt Landau of Beverly Hills,
a Birmingham Temple member for 43
years, "but he couldn't sing!'
His wife, Sandie, was a member of
the original temple choir, in those years
when animosity toward Rabbi Wine
seemed almost violent. When choir
members sang at services, he would
stand in their midst.
"We were trained to scan the audi-
ence, just like we were in the CIA',' she
said. "And, if anyone looked threaten-
ing, we were told to
"For many years, we've been very good friends.
throw ourselves in front
This is a terrible blow. Sherwin never stopped
of Sherwin. I was, at the
fighting or believing. He was a man very com-
time, seven months preg-
mitted to Judaism and what he perceived and
nant!'
believed as important to Judaism. He drew fol-
"I wasn't there with
lowers from around the world, including a huge
Sherwin in Morocco':
following in Israel. The movement resonates
Sandie Landau said,
with a lot of Jewish people who felt alienated
"but I still wish I had the
from mainstream Jewish life. In Humanistic
power to save him!"
'personality.
"He was more than a rabbi," said
Lynne Master, a former Birmingham
Temple president who now serves as
president of the International Institute
for Secular Humanistic Judaism.
"He was a friend, a mentor, an inspi-
ration!"
As a young mother, Master saw her
husband suffer a fatal heart attack
while playing tennis. Rabbi Wine spent
time with her every day for more than
a week, she remembers, and then
checked in with her several times every
week. More recently, when Master's
daughter was diagnosed with cancer at
her Arizona home, Rabbi Wine flew out
to visit — and stayed a month.
"His death leaves such a wound in
the heart': Master said.
Carolyn Trapp of Farmington Hills
remembered searching for a syna-
gogue with her non-Jewish husband
and her then-5-year-old son, Baxter.
Attending services at the Birmingham
Judaism, they found a home, a place where they
could celebrate their Jewishness."
- Robert Aronson, CEO, Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, Bloomfield Township
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