Contemporary Humanistic Judaism: Beliefs, Values, Practices

Opening up multidimensional ideas, values, and practices of Humanistic Judaism to Jews of all backgrounds and beliefs, Contemporary Humanistic Judaism collects the movement’s most important texts for the first time and answers the oft-raised question, ＂How can you be Jewish and celebrate Judaism if you don’t believe in God?＂ with new vision.

Part 1 (＂Beliefs and Ethics＂) examines core positive beliefs--in human agency, social progress, ethics without supernatural authority, sources of natural transcendence, and Humanistic Jews’ own authority to remake their traditional Jewish inheritance on their own terms ＂beyond God.＂ Part 2 (＂Identity＂) discusses how Humanistic Judaism empowers individuals to self-define as Jews, respects people’s decisions to marry whom they love, and navigates the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Part 3 (＂Culture＂) describes how the many worlds of Jewish cultural experience--art, music, food, language, heirlooms--ground Jewishness and enable endless exploration. Part 4 (＂Jewish Life＂) applies humanist philosophy to lived Jewish experience: reimagined creative education (where students choose passages meaningful to them for their bar, bat, or b mitzvah [gender-neutral] celebrations), liturgy, life cycle, and holiday celebrations (where Hanukkah emphasizes the religious freedom to believe as one chooses).

Jewish seekers, educators, and scholars alike will come to appreciate the unique ideologies and lived expressions of Humanistic Judaism.

Adam Chalom is dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism and rabbi of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in suburban Chicago. Jodi Kornfeld is rabbi of Beth Chaverim Humanistic Jewish Community in suburban Chicago and past president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis. Jeremy Kridel is rabbi and Jewish Cultural School director of Machar, the Secular Humanistic Jewish Congregation of Greater Washington, in DC.