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     Jewish texts contain many statements about God and theology, but Judaism is much more than a theology or even a religious way of life, as it is often defined. Judaism is nothing less than the four-thousand-year history of the Jewish people.

     There is a simple consequence of this statement that clears away much of the confusion about whether Judaism is a religion or an ethnic loyalty. It is both and neither; it is a cultural context that makes its members' lives meaningful, even when their lives do not reflect any overt religious commitment.

     Judaism beyond God presents a new secular and humanistic alternative to any of the forms of conventional Judaism. It provides new answers to old questions -- questions about the essence of Jewish identity, about the real meaning of Jewish history, the significance of the Jewish personality, and, not least, it includes questions about the nature of Jewish ethics.

     It also provides a radical new way of being Jewish -- new ways of celebrating Jewish holidays and the ceremonies of the Jewish life cycle, a new approach to dealing with intermarriage and conversion, a new way of reinforcing Jewish identity.
In short, Humanistic Judaism offers a meaningful way of bringing action and belief together in the celebration of Jewish identity in the twenty-first century.

     Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine founded the first Humanistic Jewish congregation, the Birmingham Temple, in 1963. In 1969, he helped found the Society for Humanistic Judaism, whose membership now comprises many individuals, groups, and congregations world wide. Rabbi Wine has been instrumental in organizing the International Federation of Secular and Humanistic Jews, the Center for New Thinking, the North American Committee for Humanism and the Humanist Institute, and the Conference of Liberal Religion. He is dean of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in North America.

     His other works include Humanistic Judaism, Celebration, Mediation Services for Humanistic Jews, High Holiday Service for Humanistic Jews, The Humanist Haggadah, and Staying Sane in a Crazy World.

[Notes by publisher]

Ktav, 1995. ISBN 0-88125-518-1

$25.00

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