CELEBRATING THE POWER WITHIN US HUMANISTIC JEWS PRACTICE NON-THEISTIC SELF-RELIANCE.Byline: Holly Andres Staff Writer SHERMAN OAKS - Believing that the power to live a good and moral life is found within themselves and not in prayer to a deity, the congregation of Adat Chaverim Valley Congregation for Humanistic Judaism Humanistic Judaism is a movement within Judaism that emphasizes Jewish culture and history - rather than belief in God - as the sources of Jewish identity. will hold its monthly Shabbat service Friday. ``I need things to be logical and make sense. Going to traditional congregations bothered me,'' said Brenda Jeffreys, the co-designer of Adat Chaverim's Friday's Shabbat service. ``I find it hard to believe that there is a supernatural being that is going to help me. It's going to be me who is going to help me. I don't believe there's something 'up there' guiding me.'' Adat Chaverim, the sole Humanistic Judaism congregation in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , celebrates all the Jewish holidays
A Jewish holiday or Jewish Festival is a day or series of days observed by Jews as a holy or secular commemoration of an important event in Jewish history. and life cycle milestones with familiar Jewish music Jewish music, the music of Jews, is quite diverse and dates back thousands of years. Sometimes it is religious in nature, other times it is not. This is because Jews are both a religion and a nation. The music of Jews vary greatly depending on origins. , but without reference or prayer to God at its services. The first Humanistic Judaism congregation was founded by Rabbi rabbi [Heb.,=my master; my teacher], the title of a Jewish spiritual leader. The role of the rabbi has undergone a number of transformations. In the Talmudic period, rabbis were primarily teachers and interpreters of the Torah. Sherwin Wine Sherwin Theodore Wine (January 25, 1928–July 21, 2007) was a rabbi and a founding figure in Humanistic Judaism. Originally ordained a Reform Jewish rabbi, Wine founded the Birmingham Temple, the first Humanistic Jewish congregation in 1963, in Birmingham, Michigan, outside in a Detroit suburb in 1963. Humanistic hu·man·ist n. 1. A believer in the principles of humanism. 2. One who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans. 3. a. A classical scholar. b. A student of the liberal arts. Jews do not see evidence for the existence of a spiritual deity. A ``best-kept secret'' is what the current president, Joan Waller, would say about public awareness of Humanistic Judaism. ``I went through my entire adult life not knowing about this,'' said Waller. ``My husband and I were so taken with the concepts at a presentation at Pierce College In 2006 the Library won a national Excellence award. Academics Pierce College offers associate's degrees, mainly in the arts and sciences. There are also certificate programs in early childhood education, social services, dental hygienist, and others. a few years ago. The concept was that we could identify as Jews, celebrate the holidays and participate in a service but a service that was non-theistic.'' Waller recalled that she felt the audience at the Pierce College presentation was uncomfortable, bordering on hostile with guest speaker Shirley Monson, a Humanistic Jew. ``People asked how can you be Jewish if you don't believe in God? They found the concepts very difficult to comprehend,'' Waller said. ``We're human-centered. If you practice the highest ideals you're going to be a good person. Just because you believe in God doesn't automatically make you a good person. We don't say there is no God. You just don't find God at our services.'' A typical Humanistic Judaism Shabbat service includes set rituals that Jews who attend Shabbat services would be familiar with, including candle lighting, responsive readings, lighting a memorial candle and hosting an Oneg Shabbat - joy of the Sabbath - gathering after the service. The difference at a Humanistic Judaism service is when blessings are recited - for the candle lighting at the beginning of a Shabbat service, for the wine and for bread - God is not thanked. Humanistic Jews would use words that express the symbolism Symbolism In art, a loosely organized movement that flourished in the 1880s and '90s and was closely related to the Symbolist movement in literature. In reaction against both Realism and Impressionism, Symbolist painters stressed art's subjective, symbolic, and decorative of light and their gratefulness for the work by human hand that went into making the wine or the bread. ``The appeal is that I feel we need to find human solutions to the problems in our life. We have to take responsibility,'' said Mona Pastor, co-designer of the upcoming service. ``The bottom line for me is that results come to us through the actions of ourselves and other people, so let's be ethical. Let's study and discuss what those ethics and actions are and how our culture interprets them.'' The congregation has no Torah although it would study Torah from a historical point of view. There is no prayer book. Instead the congregation members tap into the creativity of each other to design and lead services. Although Humanistic Judaism has rabbis List of rabbis. This is a list of prominent rabbis. Rabbis are Judaism's spiritual and religious leaders. See also: List of Jews. Rabbis: Pre-Mishnaic (Tannaim)
Jewish women past and present will be honored at a Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Adat Chaverim Valley Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, meeting at Valley Cities Jewish Community Center, 13164 Burbank Blvd., Sherman Oaks. An open house for the Jewish Cultural School of Adat Chaverim will be held at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 22 at the same location. The Jewish Cultural School will begin Aug. 29. Call (818) 623-7363 or go to www.vchj.net. Holly Andres, (818) 713-3708 holly.andres(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jewish Cultural School headmaster Joe Steinberg shows Shay shay n. Informal A chaise. [Back-formation from chaise (taken as pl. )] Noun 1. Bokra, 5 1/2, how to play the shofar as Shay's sister Addar looks on. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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