commitment to
social issues.
According to
a national Pew
Center survey in
2013, six of 10
American Jews
said that being
Jewish was mainly
a matter of cul-
ture or ancestry,
compared to 15
percent who said it
was mainly religion. Also, Jews are
less likely to believe in God than
other Americans. Two-thirds of the
Jews surveyed said a person can be
Jewish without believing in God.
Some aspects of Humanistic
Judaism, once controversial, are
more acceptable, even mainstream
today. Humanistic Judaism continues
to explore new forms of Jewish edu-
cation and observance.
“Humanistic Judaism
is bigger than a congre-
gational denomination.
The congregational model is not
working for the next generation as
much,” Falick says.
Rabbi Greg Epstein, Humanist
chaplain at Harvard and MIT,
who gave the keynote address at
the recent conference,
expressed confidence
about Humanistic
Judaism’
s future.
However, he stressed
the need for education
of teachers and mentors
who can articulate what
it means to be Jewish
culturally and by her-
itage.
“We need to adopt a
more flexible view — proba-
bly less congregational — more like
a movement or cause. There is very
little sense that the congregational
model is answering people with
ways to connect with one another,”
he says.
At the conference, it was
announced that a grant will be
used for market research to explore
better ways to explain and build
awareness of Humanistic Judaism.
Also at the conference, Golin
said, “Denominations that are
growing have a clear mission. The
mission of Humanistic Judaism is
to improve people’
s lives and make
the world a better place. We need to
open this up to everyone who might
benefit from it with no barriers to
participation.” ■
Rabbi Sivan Maas, the first Israeli
rabbi ordained by the International
Institute for Secular Humanistic
Judaism (IISHJ), is dean of Tmura-
IISHJ in Jerusalem. She participated
in a town hall about “The Passion
of the Humanistic Jews” at the
recent anniversary conference, tell-
ing the audience, “You are all part
of a revolution. Jews were always
having revolutions, so you are all
traditional Jews. Jewish plus secular
plus humanistic — that’
s my power.
What’
s yours?”
Maas became inspired by Humanistic
Judaism while working in Detroit as
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit liaison to the Jewish Agency
from 1990-94. “I was so amazed at the
pluralism in this community but also the
way that different aspects of the Jewish
community worked together,” she says.
She later began Humanistic rabbinic
studies in Israel and was ordained in
2003. Founding Rabbi Sherwin Wine
convinced her to encourage other
Israelis to become Humanistic rabbis as
the best way to develop more congre-
gations there.
In 2004, she founded the Institute for
Training Secular Humanistic Rabbis and
Jewish Leadership, which has become
a leading voice for secular Humanistic
Judaism in Israel. Five Humanistic
Jewish communities exist in Israel.
First Israeli Humanistic Rabbi Credits
Roots in Detroit
Rabbi
Sivan
Maas
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