Kalemname

Öz

The Humanistic
Judaism movement, which emerged from Reformist Judaism, was founded by Rabbi
Sherwin Theodore Wine (1928–2007) in 1963 in Detroit, USA. Particularly among
American Jews, it was recognized as the fifth sect in the face of Orthodox,
Reformist, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. The most striking
aspect of Humanistic Judaism, which is the newest of the contemporary Jewish sects,
is that it advocates a godless understanding of Judaism based on universal
values ​​by opening the theological doctrines of Judaism to debate. Because of
this feature, it is mostly accepted among the secular Jews who adopt agnostic
or atheistic views. It exhibits the most radical stance against traditional
Judaism. It regards Judaism as a historical and cultural experience of the
Jewish people; religion is only a part of this experience. It believes that human
beings are independent of a supernatural authority and are responsible for
themselves and their behavior against them, and have the ability to shape their
own lives without such power. It thinks that the history of the Jews, just like
the history of other nations, consists solely of human and natural phenomena.
It argues that the Torah and other religious texts are written by human beings
and scientific researches clearly demonstrate that fact. The aim of this
research is to emphasize the foundation of Humanistic Judaism by Rabbi Sherwin
Theodore Wine and its place in today’s Jewish world by giving information about
its basic teachings and practices. Information about Humanistic Jews will be
taken as much as possible from the publications made by the members of the
movement. These will be presented in comparison with specifically traditional
Judaism.