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Bar mitzvahs without God: Secular Judaism keeps next generation in the fold By Sue Fishkoff · December 31, 2009
Bar mitzvahs without God: Secular Judaism keeps next generation in the fold By Sue Fishkoff · December 31, 2009
| http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/31/1009978/bnai-mitzvahs-without-god-secular-judaism-keeps-next-generation-in-the-fold |
Background of Chanukah
Chanukah
Background
Chanukah is the eight-day winter candle-lighting holiday that celebrates the courageous victory achieved by Judah Maccabee and his followers over King Antiochus Epiphanes, who tried to impose Greek culture and religion upon his Syrian empire, which included Judea.
Chanukah, in Hebrew, means "dedication" and refers to the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees following their recapture of Jerusalem in 161 B.C.E. Significantly, while the Maccabees recaptured the Temple in the fall, perhaps around October, they waited until the Winter Solstice Festival of Nayrot, or Lights, to celebrate their victory. In so doing, the earlier Solstice celebration became absorbed by Chanukah and was hidden from sight.
Some six hundred years later, this human-achieved victory was further embellished by Talmudic legend that spoke of the single flask of oil that miraculously burned for eight days. This later invention of the rabbis was devised to downplay the responsibility that men and women take for their own lives and to shift attention to the supernatural intervention of Yahweh. It was also the rabbis' way of adapting the festival to re-assert their own authority and rule and suppress the voices of any human-driven uprisings.
We also recognize that not all Jews joined the Maccabees in resisting Hellenism. In fact, many were drawn to Greek culture and adopted Greek ideas concerning beauty, art, music, drama and philosophy. These ancestors laid the groundwork for the pluralism, multiculturalism and humanism that we embrace today.
In essence, the battle was not just between the Maccabees and the Greeks, but between Jews--between modernity and fundamentalism. Most tragic of all, in the end, the Maccabees turned out to be tyrants themselves, corrupted by the very power they rose to overthrow.
How We Celebrate Chanukah
We enjoy two celebrations of Chanukah, one with the KidSchool, and the other at Shabbat.
At KidSchool we come together as one large community for a special Chanukah program. It includes class presentations, lighting the menorah, and singing customary Chanukah songs. Then we celebrate with our very traditional "Pizza and Latke" party. And, of course, dreidls and Chanukah gelt (chocolate coins) are included!
At our Chanukah Shabbat, we observe a special service that commemorates the Maccabean victory along with the more ancient Winter Solstice. Everyone is invited to bring their own menorah and we really show what it means to bring light into our lives. The room glows with bright burning candles. After dinner we run separate programs for the adults and for the children.
Chanukah Message
THE PARADOX AND MODERN MIRACLE OF CHANUKAH
It may be hard to believe, considering the fanfare it gets, but Chanukah is
technically a minor festival. In fact, it is the only Jewish holiday without any
historical basis in the Bible and is barely mentioned in the Talmud. Compared to
Shabbat, Passover and the High Holidays, the Chanukah lights barely flicker.
Historically, the story of the oil burning eight days had a quaint appeal, but in an
age of science and skepticism, miracle tales have fallen into disrepute and lost their lustre. However, with the rise of political nationalism in the 19th century, the military message of the holiday gained popularity...................
Read Rabbi Schweitzer's complete article at: http://citycongregation.org/images/Let_There_Be_Lights!.pdf
THE TEEN CONCLAVE
Many ask how we can keep our teens involved in the movement. Here is one answer: The Teen Conclave
Jewish Studies Sans Religion?
The latest skirmish in the halls of Jewish academia has, surprisingly, nothing to do with Israel. But the new discord over academic grants made by the Posen Foundation concerns a charged topic just the same — the growing trend of teaching about Jewish culture through an exclusively secular lens.
Check out the full Article here:
http://tinyurl.com/ycs8boo
Enjoy Sherwin Wine's lectures on a wide range of subjects
Check out the following link:
http://teach.learnoutloud.com/Resources/Authors-and-Narrators/Sherwin-T.-Wine/8281#Sherwin-T.-Wine
During the last forty-five years Sherwin Wine was the major force behind the movement of Humanistic Judaism, which he founded in 1963. Out of his work emerged The Birmingham Temple, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism, the Society for Humanistic Judaism, a federation of over forty congregations in North America, and the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, a coalition of twelve national and regional organizations.
Sherwin Wine was a philosopher, historian, author and community builder. His seminars on Jewish history have been highly praised by both traditional and non-traditional audiences. As the Dean of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, the intellectual and educational arm of the Humanistic Jewish movement, he was been instrumental in bringing together world-renowned academics to explore important topics in the Jewish world.
Wine wrote four books – Humanistic Judaism (1978); Judaism Beyond God (1986); Celebration (1991) and Staying Sane in a Crazy World (1996). In 2003 A Life of Courage: Sherwin Wine and Humanistic Judaism appeared as a tribute to his life’s work.
Sherwin Wine was also the founder of the Center for New Thinking of which he was the Chief Lecturer. Wine presented the Center lectures to large audiences of people interested in continuing education. Wine’s talks were very popular and reflected his unique ability to make complex ideas easily accessible to a lay audience. The scope of his expertise was broad, embracing history, philosophy, religion, science, psychology, literature and the arts.
Hanukah, sans Oil
A great article from Judith Seid about Jewish Holidays and Life Cycles (http://secularjewishculture.org/id94.html)
Hanukah, sans Holy Oil
By Judith Seid
Hanukah is rich in meaning. It has six holiday components: primitive, season
al, historical, religious, national, and ethical. The primitive and seasonal components have to do with the winter solstice. Like many cultures, the Jews make light when the sun is least in evidence. The Yule log, for example, is a primitive Germanic custom that dates from long before the Christianization of that part of Europe. It’s sympathetic magic: By making bright lights, we hope to show the sun what we want it to do. We Jews have a tradition of making more and more light for a whole week, showing that we want the sun to come back and make longer and longer days. Don’t laugh! It has worked so far!
Was this sun magic in the original Hanukah? We don’t know for sure, and scholars have debated the issue. It seems probable that there was a holiday of lights at this time of year—although the ancient Hebrew tradition would have been bonfires, not oil lamps. If such a holiday existed, it was successfully reinterpreted, or Judaized, as many folk traditions have been over the ages.
The historical component, perhaps the most obvious, is the successful war fought by the first guerillas in recorded history. On Hanukah we celebrate the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenized Syrians in 165 BCE. The contemporaneous record, the first two books of the Maccabees (along with writings by the Greek historian Polybius), tell of a civil war waged by the Hebrews who were allied with their Greek-Syrian rulers and a band of Hebrews who appear to be a combination of nationalists and religious fanatics who demanded that all acculturation to Greek ways be halted. These zealots wanted to stop Hebrews from worshipping Greek gods, wearing Greek clothes, giving children Greek names, and playing Greek sports, as well as studying all secular learning. If we look at this in modern terms, we see that the bad guys of the story—the assimilationists—are a lot like us. It is not clear at all just who are the real bad guys in the story.
Another viewpoint also has some historical truth. Ancient Israel was fought over by two Hellenized kingdoms, one based in Syria and the other in Egypt. It eventually came under rule of the Syrians, who decided, in an effort to unify the empire, to establish the universal worship of their king. This worship was not to the exclusion of other gods, but in addition to the worship of other gods. The king, Antiochus, was said to be the personification of whatever god was being worshipped. This suited the many ancient religions but was an anathema to the Hebrew priests. Finally, a band of zealots led by Mattathias of Modin and his sons (including Judah Maccabee) arose in rebellion—luckily for them, at a time when Syria was otherwise occupied with rebellions all over the empire—and were victorious.
They established the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled, with the support of Rome, until Rome decided a few generations later that it would just take over. The land of Israel/Judah under the Maccabees (the Hasmoneans) eventually encompassed a huge territory. The Hasmoneans were no better or worse than other ruling powers, though. They were proud of their conquest of the lands of others and even forced conversion—including circumcision—on some who found themselves within their borders.
Throughout the years, the national significance of Hanukah played a large role in the folk mind. Early Eastern European Zionists (in the 1800s) were responsible for reclaiming the holiday as a time of national aspiration rather than celebrating the folk and religious aspects. They began, against the loud protests of the religious establishment, to celebrate the holiday, which had been considered a minor one, as the holiday that embodied their central ideals. They also used it as a day to glorify physical prowess, fighting ability, and sports.
Also in the late 1800s the holiday was used to energize the Jewish militias that fought back against pogromchiks. The Yiddish Hanukah songs from Eastern Europe often contain mournful statements about how hard it was to believe that Jews were once fighters and had their own land. Although the establishment of Israel has made those songs seem like quaint echoes of days gone by, the national longing is clear.
It is because of the national and historical components that the ethical component of Hanukah is so important. We see in the Hanukah story a phenomenon that has been repeated many times in the modern world: a tyrant so strong he can be overthrown only by fanatics. Just as the moderates never spoke out against the shah of Iran, the moderate Jews of the time did not speak out against Antiochus, the Greek-Syrian ruler. As the tyranny tightened, only those who were fanatics were willing to sacrifice all for the cause of overthrowing the tyrant. The fanatics began rebellions, and when it looked like they might win, the moderates joined them. The fanatics ended up taking over the government and becoming tyrants, as fanatics are wont to do. We learn from this that it is necessary to speak out against justice and tyranny immediately and not acquiesce even to the first injustice.
We also learn from the holiday the need of people for their own heritage and culture and the lengths to which they will go to defend their national and cultural rights. We remember how we resented being deprived of our culture, and we speak out against instances in which others are being deprived of their culture. Progressive Jews were among those who protested, for instance, when the Bulgarians forced their ethnic Turkish minority to take Slavic names and give up their own ways, an instance closely related to the example of the Hanukah story. And Jews must also remember the forced removal of Native American children to boarding schools outside their communities, schools in which they were forbidden to speak their own languages and engage in their own traditions.
The religious aspects of the holiday are a later overlay. They are a result of the antipathy of the rabbinic establishment to the idea of Jews acting on their own and to the idea that there could be Jewish kings who were not of the Davidic line. At least two hundred years after the events of 168-165 BCE the rabbis invented the story of the miracle of the oil and gave God, rather than the freedom fighters, the credit for freeing the Jews from outside tyranny. They also succeeded in making the story one about religious rather than cultural oppression. By paying attention to the nonreligious aspects of the holiday, we are returning it to its true historic and ethical roots.
Judith Seid is the author of God-Optional Judaism (Citadel Press, 2001), from which this piece was taken. She is a member of the executive committee of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations.
Hanukah, sans Holy Oil
By Judith Seid
Hanukah is rich in meaning. It has six holiday components: primitive, season
al, historical, religious, national, and ethical. The primitive and seasonal components have to do with the winter solstice. Like many cultures, the Jews make light when the sun is least in evidence. The Yule log, for example, is a primitive Germanic custom that dates from long before the Christianization of that part of Europe. It’s sympathetic magic: By making bright lights, we hope to show the sun what we want it to do. We Jews have a tradition of making more and more light for a whole week, showing that we want the sun to come back and make longer and longer days. Don’t laugh! It has worked so far!Was this sun magic in the original Hanukah? We don’t know for sure, and scholars have debated the issue. It seems probable that there was a holiday of lights at this time of year—although the ancient Hebrew tradition would have been bonfires, not oil lamps. If such a holiday existed, it was successfully reinterpreted, or Judaized, as many folk traditions have been over the ages.
The historical component, perhaps the most obvious, is the successful war fought by the first guerillas in recorded history. On Hanukah we celebrate the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenized Syrians in 165 BCE. The contemporaneous record, the first two books of the Maccabees (along with writings by the Greek historian Polybius), tell of a civil war waged by the Hebrews who were allied with their Greek-Syrian rulers and a band of Hebrews who appear to be a combination of nationalists and religious fanatics who demanded that all acculturation to Greek ways be halted. These zealots wanted to stop Hebrews from worshipping Greek gods, wearing Greek clothes, giving children Greek names, and playing Greek sports, as well as studying all secular learning. If we look at this in modern terms, we see that the bad guys of the story—the assimilationists—are a lot like us. It is not clear at all just who are the real bad guys in the story.
Another viewpoint also has some historical truth. Ancient Israel was fought over by two Hellenized kingdoms, one based in Syria and the other in Egypt. It eventually came under rule of the Syrians, who decided, in an effort to unify the empire, to establish the universal worship of their king. This worship was not to the exclusion of other gods, but in addition to the worship of other gods. The king, Antiochus, was said to be the personification of whatever god was being worshipped. This suited the many ancient religions but was an anathema to the Hebrew priests. Finally, a band of zealots led by Mattathias of Modin and his sons (including Judah Maccabee) arose in rebellion—luckily for them, at a time when Syria was otherwise occupied with rebellions all over the empire—and were victorious.
They established the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled, with the support of Rome, until Rome decided a few generations later that it would just take over. The land of Israel/Judah under the Maccabees (the Hasmoneans) eventually encompassed a huge territory. The Hasmoneans were no better or worse than other ruling powers, though. They were proud of their conquest of the lands of others and even forced conversion—including circumcision—on some who found themselves within their borders.
Throughout the years, the national significance of Hanukah played a large role in the folk mind. Early Eastern European Zionists (in the 1800s) were responsible for reclaiming the holiday as a time of national aspiration rather than celebrating the folk and religious aspects. They began, against the loud protests of the religious establishment, to celebrate the holiday, which had been considered a minor one, as the holiday that embodied their central ideals. They also used it as a day to glorify physical prowess, fighting ability, and sports.
Also in the late 1800s the holiday was used to energize the Jewish militias that fought back against pogromchiks. The Yiddish Hanukah songs from Eastern Europe often contain mournful statements about how hard it was to believe that Jews were once fighters and had their own land. Although the establishment of Israel has made those songs seem like quaint echoes of days gone by, the national longing is clear.
It is because of the national and historical components that the ethical component of Hanukah is so important. We see in the Hanukah story a phenomenon that has been repeated many times in the modern world: a tyrant so strong he can be overthrown only by fanatics. Just as the moderates never spoke out against the shah of Iran, the moderate Jews of the time did not speak out against Antiochus, the Greek-Syrian ruler. As the tyranny tightened, only those who were fanatics were willing to sacrifice all for the cause of overthrowing the tyrant. The fanatics began rebellions, and when it looked like they might win, the moderates joined them. The fanatics ended up taking over the government and becoming tyrants, as fanatics are wont to do. We learn from this that it is necessary to speak out against justice and tyranny immediately and not acquiesce even to the first injustice.
We also learn from the holiday the need of people for their own heritage and culture and the lengths to which they will go to defend their national and cultural rights. We remember how we resented being deprived of our culture, and we speak out against instances in which others are being deprived of their culture. Progressive Jews were among those who protested, for instance, when the Bulgarians forced their ethnic Turkish minority to take Slavic names and give up their own ways, an instance closely related to the example of the Hanukah story. And Jews must also remember the forced removal of Native American children to boarding schools outside their communities, schools in which they were forbidden to speak their own languages and engage in their own traditions.
The religious aspects of the holiday are a later overlay. They are a result of the antipathy of the rabbinic establishment to the idea of Jews acting on their own and to the idea that there could be Jewish kings who were not of the Davidic line. At least two hundred years after the events of 168-165 BCE the rabbis invented the story of the miracle of the oil and gave God, rather than the freedom fighters, the credit for freeing the Jews from outside tyranny. They also succeeded in making the story one about religious rather than cultural oppression. By paying attention to the nonreligious aspects of the holiday, we are returning it to its true historic and ethical roots.
Judith Seid is the author of God-Optional Judaism (Citadel Press, 2001), from which this piece was taken. She is a member of the executive committee of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations.
Rabbi Schweitzer featured in Hadassah
Our Rabbi, Peter Schweitzer, is a dedicated collector of objects from 20th-century Jewish Americana. In fact, his private collection, an
extraordinary hodgepodge of everyday objects, is the largest private collection on record. It was so impressive that it caught the attention of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. Rabbi Schweitzer donated most all of his collection to the museum, which will soon be moving to it's new, spectacular five-story glass, steel, and terra cotta home on Independence Mall across from the Liberty Bell.Read the entire article online:
Sherwin Wine 7: How do I give my child a Jewish identity?
Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discusses how to give your child a Jewish identity through a secular Bar & Bat Mitzvah ceremony that emphasizes history, culture, and values.
Sherwin Wine 6: Who rules the universe, God or man?
Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discusses the Humanistic answer to the meaning of Jewish history; history does not show that the universe is ruled by a god, but rather that there is no conscious moral design of the universe. The only moral agenda is the Human one; only we can create a moral order in the world.
Sherwin Wine- What makes someone a Jew?
Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discusses what it means to be a Humanistic Jew; not theologically Jewish, but culturally Jewish. The founding of the modern state of Israel means that Judaism is no longer defined by religion, but by ethnicity and culture.
Sherwin Wine 4: Is the Bible divine or simply good literature?
Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discusses the proto-Humanistic Jewish response to the challenges of modernity. In this video, he states that since we accept science and reason as the only valid path to truth, we do not accept the Bible as the perfect divine word of God (since no good evidence for that has been adduced), but only as a very important piece of Jewish literature. All Jewish literature is viewed as equally valid source to draw upon.
Sherwin Wine 2: How did the Holocaust change Jewish Identity
Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discusses the challenges of modernity and the Holocaust. In this video, he discusses how the Holocaust changed the definition of Jewish existence and identity.
Sherwin Wine 2- Are Jews bound together more by religion or ethnicity?
Part 2: discussions of the three challenges of modernity: 1) Science, 2)the founding of Israel, 3)and the Holocaust. In this video, Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discusses growing up in a Jewish community that was bound not by religious beliefs, but by ethnic and cultural identity.
Sherwin Wine 1: What's the difference between Traditional Jewish and Secular Jewish Beliefs?
Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, discussions the challenge of reconciling modern science and reason with traditional Jewish beliefs and culture. He discusses the difference between his beliefs as a secular and cultural Jew, his Orthodox Jewish brethren, and the beliefs of his ancestors (e.g. belief in the resurrection).
Challenging Convention: Secular and Humanist and Jew
Any questions? Contact info@iishj.org or 248‐476‐9532.
UPDATED CALENDAR
Tour of Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
The Latest TCC Events Have Been Posted!
Kidschool Open House
Sunday, Sept 13, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
What's Kidschool?
A commitment to education has been one of the core values of Jewish culture. As Humanistic Jews, we use critical thinking and scientific reasoning to assess inherited truths. We do not automatically accept as authoritative the teachings of the past. While we believe that it is important for our children to become familiar with stories from the Hebrew bible and other ancient texts, we also subject those stories to the same scrutiny that we would apply to any body of knowledge.
What Can I Expect at the Open House?
The open houses are an opportunity for parents to hear about the KidSchool from the Rabbi, followed by Q&A and refreshments and then to experience the KidSchool in realtime.
The program lasts for an hour plus. Age appropriate kid activities are provided during the Rabbi talk and the Q&A. Parents and children are able participate in Kehillia Circle (kids and adults singing) and/or to sit in on the classes that follow the Open House program and Kehillia Circle.
Reservations are recommended.
For more details: http://citycongregation.org/calendar/ kidschoolschedule0910.html
The program lasts for an hour plus. Age appropriate kid activities are provided during the Rabbi talk and the Q&A. Parents and children are able participate in Kehillia Circle (kids and adults singing) and/or to sit in on the classes that follow the Open House program and Kehillia Circle.
Reservations are recommended.
For more details: http://citycongregation.org/
Shabbat
Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
Service and Dinner at 6:30pm, followed by Program at 8:15pm. CCNY
Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
Service and Dinner at 6:30pm, followed by Program at 8:15pm. CCNY
Program: "The Bintel Brief: The Original Advice Column - Then and Now"
The Bintel Brief was the Yiddish Forward’s legendary advice column, launched in 1906 by Abraham Cahan. It addressed the pressing needs, challenges and sorrows of Jewish immigrants as they found their way in American life.
The Bintel Brief was the Yiddish Forward’s legendary advice column, launched in 1906 by Abraham Cahan. It addressed the pressing needs, challenges and sorrows of Jewish immigrants as they found their way in American life.
Rabbi Peter Schweitzer will pose questions from the original Bintel Brief and then entertain contemporary questions that we face today.
Manhattan to Brooklyn Walking Tour
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
Manhattan to Brooklyn Walking Tour
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
10:45 AM
Optional lunch following the walk
Led by Marty Shore, our member and licensed tour leader
$20 per person, $15 if paid by 9/20/09
Led by Marty Shore, our member and licensed tour leader
$20 per person, $15 if paid by 9/20/09
Tour of Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
280 Broome Street (off Allen Street),
Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009
11am-2pm
Will be followed by Dairy Greek Lunch
$30 per person, including lunch, $25 if paid before October 15
For more information, visit http://citycongregation.org or email us at info@citycongregation.org
High Holiday Message from Rabbi Peter H. Schweitzer
Why come together for the High Holidays? We could just as easily stay home, even go to work, or go to services that are incompatible with our views. Many of us have done all these things, often uncomfortably. We have found that it doesn’t address our need to mark these days in a special way.
Humanistic Judaism offers secular, cultural Jews a way to celebrate the holidays – not just at the beginning of the year, but throughout the year – with integrity, intellectual consistency, and, we hope, with stirring and inspiring messages and music. Countless people have come up to us after attending services and said, practically on cue, “I felt at home for the first time. I no longer have to struggle with what to do at the High Holidays.”
Why do we come together? To be with our extended family, to gain strength from one another as we turn our thoughts inward, to build a community for greater purpose than our own.
There’s nothing as real as cultivating face-to-face human encounters. It matters to be together literally in the same room.
I can’t think of a better way to express what being a member of a congregation is all about and why our meditation and reflection and learning and growing can’t be done as effectively in isolation. Our personal growth is often only realized through the interplay with others. Likewise, our community grows stronger itself as we learn to hash out issues together, tolerating difference, listening to one another, learning from one another.
We need each other, we need each other’s presence. In the congregation I grew up in, we sat on long cushioned-benches rubbing up against each other shoulder to shoulder. I still think that’s the way to go. We need that kind of intimacy. We need to break-down our barriers. We need to touch, we need to be touched.
This High Holidays, I hope that we will all be invigorated, uplifted, and touched by our being with one another. May our celebrations have meaning for us individually and together as a community.
Shana tova! May you have a happy and sweet New Year!
Humanistic Judaism offers secular, cultural Jews a way to celebrate the holidays – not just at the beginning of the year, but throughout the year – with integrity, intellectual consistency, and, we hope, with stirring and inspiring messages and music. Countless people have come up to us after attending services and said, practically on cue, “I felt at home for the first time. I no longer have to struggle with what to do at the High Holidays.”
Why do we come together? To be with our extended family, to gain strength from one another as we turn our thoughts inward, to build a community for greater purpose than our own.
There’s nothing as real as cultivating face-to-face human encounters. It matters to be together literally in the same room.
I can’t think of a better way to express what being a member of a congregation is all about and why our meditation and reflection and learning and growing can’t be done as effectively in isolation. Our personal growth is often only realized through the interplay with others. Likewise, our community grows stronger itself as we learn to hash out issues together, tolerating difference, listening to one another, learning from one another.
We need each other, we need each other’s presence. In the congregation I grew up in, we sat on long cushioned-benches rubbing up against each other shoulder to shoulder. I still think that’s the way to go. We need that kind of intimacy. We need to break-down our barriers. We need to touch, we need to be touched.
This High Holidays, I hope that we will all be invigorated, uplifted, and touched by our being with one another. May our celebrations have meaning for us individually and together as a community.
Shana tova! May you have a happy and sweet New Year!
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