What is Humanistic Judaism
Humanistic Judaism is a branch of Judaism that I believe in and it not very common. In this paper, I will tell you what Humanistic Judaism
Is.
Humanistic Judaism is believing in Jewish values without the belief that there is not one supernatural thing controlling your every move.
In its current form, Humanistic Judaism was founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine.
What Do Humanistic Jews Believe
Humanist Jews believe that there is no supernatural power controlling your every move. Humanist Jews believe that every Jew has the power to create a meaningful Jewish life without the role of a God or controlling being watching over them. They also believe that the Torah is not a book of history, but a book of lessons that shows us that what a good Jew should be even if there is no God there. Another belief of Humanistic Jews is that a Jew’s main goal in life is to have good self-esteem and a good ego/dignity. The roots of humanistic Judaism are just as important as the religious ones. Judaism was made by people, not from falling from the sky. Humanist Jews that there is no God that is created religion just to have people follow them. The final main belief of humanistic Jews is that holidays are representations of human events. Like Passover, there probably was a pharaoh that enslaved people and it’s the holidays are lessons that are based off learning about how to be a good person.
How Does This Resonate With Me
This resonates with me because I have trouble believing in god. It shows that you don’t have to believe in god to be Jewish. This helps me because in Jewish studies the teachers often ask “what are your beliefs about god?” Now I have an actual answer and I don’t have to say I don’t believe in god. Most of the time when I state my former beliefs they’ll just make me do extra work because I don’t believe in god.
I really like how a lot of the time that I was doing this project it was a bunch of me doing research and figuring out how I believe in Judaism and how I am a Jew. Now after this project which Gev. Honigman so happily assigned me I now have a good reason to go to Jewish studies class. I really like to be in Jewish studies class now because it is a good class but you just need to have the right mindset.
Sites
These are excellent reflections on your learnings. It is evident that you kept an open mind in this class and as a result have found a new way to look at Judaism that is meaningful to you. That’s wonderful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.