The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism
President: Lynne Master
Initiator and former Provost: Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, Detroit, USA
Provost: Professor Yaakov Malkin, Jerusalem, Israel
Director and Dean: Rabbi Adam Chalom, North America
Director and Dean: Rabbi Sivan Maas, Tmura - Israel
“Tmura Israel”
The institute for training Secular Humanistic Rabbis & Jewish Leadership in Israel The course for Secular Humanistic Rabbis - Post-graduate course
• The formation of an educational and community leadership for secular humanistic Judaism.
• To guide “Judaism as Culture” studies.
• To activate culture communities.
• To lead and perform Jewish holiday ceremonies and life cycle celebrations in secular Judaism.
Areas of study:
a) The history of “Judaism as Culture” starting from the present and going backwards into the past. Familiarization with the works of art and literature traditions, customs and religious and secular movements which represent the culture of the Jewish people in modern times, the Enlightenment, the Renaissance, the Medieval and the Ancient times. Emphasis will be placed on the affinity of the cultures of the Jewish people to those of other nations.
b) Familiarization with methods of study in “Judaism as Culture”, including the “Ma Nishtana” system, in which emphasis is placed both on the changes which occur in the present concerning the characteristics and contents of Jewish culture and on the changes which take place in viewing the culture of past.
c) The study of secular Judaism along side of that of religious Judaisms. Emphasis will be placed on studies of the new Israeli culture, which developed since the end of the 19th century in Hebrew.
d) Secularization and Humanism in the West and their influence on the Secular-Humanistic movements in secular Judaism.
e) The arts and life of the Jewish peoples: familiarization with contemporary Jewish art, and with the arts in Judaism in the last 3000 years.
f) Secular Jewish thought and its affinity to the beliefs and thought representing the trends and the spiritual life in Judaism in the past.
g) An historical map of Jewish culture.
h) The development of historiography in secular Judaism and its attitudes to past historiography.
i) Belief in God as a literary character and its affinity to beliefs expressed in “A guide to the Perplexed”, in Spinoza’s writing, in the Kabala, in the Rabbinical and Hellenistic Judaism and in the Bible and Apocrophilic texts.
a. Communication Abilities: studies in rhetoric and leadership of discussions; activation of community broadcasting; interviewing.
b. Volunteers: activation of volunteers, elected committees and the board of directors of the community; social activity outside the community; activities in a multicultural environment.
c. Schools: guiding teacher seminars in schools, introducing programs of Judaism as Culture as well as the Culture of Secular Judaism.
d. Learning in the Community: activation of youth and adult education programs in “Judaism as Culture” and its links to cultures of other nations.
e. Amuta: founding and leading an Amuta - budget management and legal and financial aspects of management.
f. Counseling: helping individuals and families who seek advice in various fields – both personal and inter-personal.
g. Cooperation: cooperation with other communities in Israel and in the Diaspora.
a. Studies in the "Ma Nishtana" method: what has recently changed in the significance and modes of celebration of Jewish national holidays?
b. The history of the holiday and the changes which occurred in the contents, the modes of celebration and the literature and art included in its celebrations.
c. Comparative studies of Jewish holidays and their parallels in the holidays of other nations.
d. Organization and preparation of celebrations of Shabbat and other holidays in secular Judaism – in families, communities and schools.
a. Studies of what has changed in life cycle celebrations – significance, contents and modes – in religious and secular Judaism in modern times and in the past.
b. New modes of celebration of life cycle events in secular and religious Judaisms and their significance.
c. The legal status of alternative ceremonies (as opposed to Rabbinical ones); legal problems of couples married by non-Rabbinical authorities.