Humanistic Judaism
Humanistic Judaism is a movement in US Judaism that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the source of Jewish identity rather than belief in a supernatural God . The movement's philosophical views are rooted in humanism and secularism and can be summarized as follows:
- A Jew is someone who identifies with the history, culture and future of the Jewish people;
- the Judaism is the historic culture of the Jewish people, and religion is only part of this culture;
- Jewish identity is best preserved in a free, pluralistic environment;
- people have the power and responsibility to shape their lives independently of a supernatural authority;
- Ethics and morals serve human needs, people decide after considering the consequences of the action instead of according to given laws or commandments ;
- Jewish history, like all history, is a human phenomenon, a testimony to the importance of human power and responsibility. Biblical and other traditional texts are the products of human activity and are best understood through archeology and other scientific research.
- the freedom and dignity of the Jewish people must go hand in hand with the freedom and dignity of every human being.
As a decisive peculiarity of humanistic Judaism, its rituals and ceremonies take place without prayers or any other invocation of a supernatural God.
Emergence
In its current form, humanistic Judaism was founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine . As a Reform Jewish rabbi in a small secular non-theistic community in Michigan , Wine developed a Jewish liturgy that reflected his own and the philosophical beliefs of his community by combining Jewish culture, history and identity along with humanistic ethics to the exclusion of all prayers and references to one put supernatural God at the center. This community originated in the Birmingham Temple , now in Farmington Hills .
In 1969 these and other congregations were organizationally united under the Society for Humanistic Judaism (SHJ). In 1986 the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews was founded with the participation of organizations from thirteen countries.
Principles of faith and life
The religious principles of humanistic Judaism are in many ways similar to those of the reconstructionists with the main emphasis on adhering to the Jewish identity while at the same time adopting a scientific-materialistic worldview as well as an ethical orientation similar to Dewey's views . However, humanistic Judaism represents a far more radical rejection of traditional Judaism than Mordechai M. Kaplan ever imagined. Kaplan redefined “God” and other traditional religious categories in order to formulate them appropriately for the materialistic worldview and continued to use traditional prayer language. Wine dismissed this approach as confusing, since parishioners could then define these terms at will. Wine strove to create a philosophical rigor and stability by creating non-theistic rituals and ceremonies. Services on Shabbat , Rosh Hashanah , Yom Kippur and other Jewish feasts and holidays were celebrated with a reinterpretation of their meaning, often to bring them in line with humanistic- philosophical notions.
Humanistic Judaism was developed to ensure Jewish identity and its continued existence among non-religious, secularized North American Jews. Wine had found that religious life flourished in the community environment and believed that secular Jews who opposed theism would be attracted to an organization similar in form and practice to that of Reform Jews. Rabbis and other leaders are trained in various institutions in the United States and Israel.
Egalitarianism
Humanistic Judaism is egalitarian in terms of gender, Jewish status, and sexual orientation . So - instead of the Brit Mila - similar naming ceremonies are used for boys and girls. Professing and non-professing Jews, homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people can be involved in the customs and in leading roles in any way.
literature
- Judaism Beyond God: A Radical New Way to Be Jewish , Sherwin T. Wine, KTAV Publishing House and Society for Humanistic Judaism, 1996.
- God-Optional Judaism: Alternatives for Cultural Jews Who Love Their History, Heritage, and Community , Judith Seid, Citadel Press, 2001.
- Judaism In A Secular Age - An Anthology of Secular Humanistic Jewish Thought , Edited by: Renee Kogel and Zev Katz, KTAV Publishing House and International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, 1995.
- Jews Without Judaism: Conversations with an Unconventional Rabbi , Daniel Friedman, Prometheus Books, 2002.