Here is an hj list post from Jane Goldhamer concerning how to start up an HJ group from early Jan. 1996. Later in the spring, the general subject of how to best base growth of the movement came up. These posts are by: Walter Hellman Claudio Szwarcfiter Robert Wolfe Jamie Zwick Mike Prival (2) Roger Eden Bobby in Illinois Hans Leander (2) Bernie Banet Alan Young (2) Jesse Gordon ...................................................................... From goldhamr@teleport.comWed Jan 10 19:56:27 1996 Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 12:54:50 -0800 (PST) From: "M. Michael Goldhamer" To: hj@teleport.com Subject: HJ/ Roger Eden's post of 11-25-95 I could feel Roger's discouragement about starting a hj organization very well, having been very low in the first 15 or so months of trying to rub sticks together and get a spark going here. After I was talked into making the effort, the national office sent me a printout of everyone in Oregon who had ever made an inquiry to SHJ. I picked out the 27 who were in or near Portland, added some people I knew who might be interested, and sent a letter suggesting that we meet to talk about forming a group. Thirty people came to the first meeting in April 1992, five of whom are members of the community that finally formed. (Actually there are 7 from the beginning; two came to the first meeting without their spouses.) For the rest of 1992 and about half of 1993 we lurched along with no organization, no committees, no income, and no name, coming up with the next month's program at each monthly meeting. We did manage to have a 1992 Rosh Hashana service with major help from a madrikha in Washington state; also a Hanukka party in December '92 and a Seder in the spring of 1993--plus some Shabbat potlucks, discussion programs, and a picnic. In October 1992 I hoped that there would be enough willing people to become organized, called a meeting to talk about it, and almost no one came. What I discovered in these months was that we attracted a lot of unlikely candidates for members: a. People who are opposed on principle to joining any organization (that's one of the reasons they're unaffiliated). b. People who aren't satisfied with anything; nothing "meets their needs" (another reason they're unaffiliated). c. People who are short on social skills such as cooperation (a third reason). d. PEople who like to window shop--they're curious, but not terribly interested. e. People who are somewhat interested but too busy with other things. f. People who'd probably join IF the organization were up and running already, but who don't want to go to all the trouble of trying to get it started. During this phase, it takes at least one person who's willing and able to keep something going, without much help. Maybe you saw my reflections on the Colloquium, in which I stated the belief that we're unlikely ever to have really large communities because the majority of people are lukewarm or disinterested with regard to religion. A small number truly believe and a small number care about what, if anything, they CAN believe. For the lukewarm, the question isn't important enough to think much about, let alone make an effort to get an organization going. In the fall of 1993, however, we finally had attracted a few people who were enthusiastically interested and whose enthusiasm was communicated to a few more who were willing to go along. We needed a "minyan" of 10 member units to affiliate with SHJ, and we got that number through some gentle persuasion. Success breeds success, and two years later we have 36 member units who are pretty much committed to what we're doing; plus a few people who "never join anything" but are quite involved in our activities, and others who subscribe to the newsletter and show up now and then or not at all. Publicity has played a part. Notices of events in the Jewish and city newspapers bring some telephone inquiries and some attendance, and sometimes someone comes to something and likes us. We've had a few feature articles that have elicited calls. (I never feel that a call is not worthwhile, since it gives an opportunity to tell what we're about, even if the caller concludes we're not for her/him.) The big volume of inquiries comes preceding Passover and the High Holidays, when many Jews suddenly remember they're Jews and want to do something about it. We do quite wonderful services for these occasions, and impress new people. We take care to be visible as a legitimate component of the Portland Jewish community, with representatives to inter-synagogue boards and committees, etc. We also stress that we aren't interested in competing or proselytizing--we offer another approach for those Jews who haven't found a comfortable niche for themselves in other Jewish religious groups, and we're happy to refer people who approach us to the other groups, if that's where they'd be more comfortable. Word of mouth helps as publicity, too. Members tell friends about us. When someone asks for information we send descriptive material (history, philosophy, organization, activities, etc. for SHJ and our local group) plus 3 complimentary monthly newsletters. After the 3rd free newsletter, the recipient is asked to become a newsletter subscriber or a group member. Many don't (and are dropped from mailing), but at least they know about us and can tell others, perhaps. Last spring we got started with children's education for ages 4-8, and have 12 children in the program. It's a small start, but now if someone asks what we have for children, we have something to tell him/her. We've had one Bar Mitzvah and are willing to help put together more of them. Though the occasions haven't yet arisen, we're also prepared to be prepared to offer "adoption" ceremonies, adult B'nai Mitzvot, baby-naming, weddings, or memorial services. The monthly newsletter seems to play a somewhat important role. Not only does it tell about local HJ activities and report on things going on in the area and in the larger HJ movement, but also has a personal touch which people say they like. We always mention birthdays of the month and, if it becomes known, other news of members such as honors, publications, kid news, family weddings or babies, hospitalizations, family deaths, etc. A poem or a short essay by a member may be printed. Contributions are acknowledged. Sometimes a joke or cartoon is included in the newsletter. I often write personal notes: e.g. if someone is mentioned as having helped with an event, I might write "thanks!" in the margin. When we have meetings we include candle lighting in which anyone who wants to share a joy or a concern can light a candle and tell about it Anything you can do to help people "bond" to one another and feel like a close community may be the most productive effort of all. Other things flow from that, and producing successful programs adds to the feeling of community and the upbeat spirit which makes group participation a positive experience. Listening to people's complaints, concerns, ideas, and contributions, in an AFFIRMING way, is also vital. Hope this is some help. Good luck!! Jane Goldhamer, coordinator Humanistic Jews of Greater Portland ....................................................................... From: Walter Hellman Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 22:14:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: HJ/ Rabbi Wine on the "Unaffiliated Jew" Recent discussion on the list...especially by Roger Eden, Hans Leander and Claudio Swarcfiter...has centered around the question of what will cause people to group as Jews in a secular society when there are so many other ways for people to group. People can gravitate towards groups at work, political action groups, neighborhood associations, etc. The most recent issue of _Humanistic Judaism_ (Winter/Spring 1996; published by SHJ), contains an article by Rabbi Sherwin Wine entitled "The Unaffiliated Jew," and was adapted from the talk he gave at last year's colloquium by that name. The article bears heavily on our current discussion. Wine describes what has also been said here: In a secular society, many if not most of the traditional reasons for Jews to group amongst themselves no longer exist. When Jews can move in any circle, work in any occupation, and travel freely without being recognized as Jews, the cultural enclave need and mentality dissolve. As Wine says, The profile of the unaffiliated Jew is not one of defiant rejection. It is one of a free citizen with a priority list that often changes daily. Most unaffiliated Jews enjoy being Jewish at some time or other. It is just that they have so many other, more important things they want to do. Simultaneously, the ethnic, or what might be viewed as cultural distinction of Judaism is much harder to maintain: Being simultaneously Jewish and secular was, at one time, easier than it is now. Seventy years ago the overwhelming majority of Jews in North America lived in the ethnic culture of Ashkenazic Eastern Europe, dominated by the living presence of the Yiddish language. To be secular was to be ethnic. To be secular was to use and value Yiddish... But Jewish ethnicity, like other European ethnicities, is not sustainable in North America. In the end, all Europeans give up their native languages, use English, and meld into the category designated as "white." Only African Americans, Hispanics and Asians remain ethnically intact because they are visibly distinct... Wine reasons that ethnicity will no longer work as a basis to organize Jews and that "Unless there is some inspirational, ideological element, Jewish identity, like Italian identity, will be absorbed into the the new white world. Now with readers on our list from non-North American countries, it would be interesting to see to what extent this analysis holds outside the U.S. Wine next describes what he sees as the crux of the problem for Judaism: In recent years ideology has been the weak point of North American Jewry. In an age in which traditional belief is no longer possible for them, many committed Jews separate their personal belief systems from their Jewishness. Prayer is seen as unconnected with what they really believe. It is simply a traditional vehicle to do something Jewish. The words become more important than the ideas. The danger in this dichotomy is that time will weaken the need to imitate the past. Either the Jewish experience provides an important message and a guide for living, or Judaism turns into a cultural potpourri of form without substance. In the absence of conviction, Jewish identity will collapse before rival ideologies that address the daily problems of assimilated Jews with conviction and integrity. Now I think this is more a problem for Humanistic Jews in particular, as opposed to theistic Jews who are much more likely to find a "guide for living" in their traditional views (there is even a Guide for the Perplexed). The bulk of Wine's article deals with what is necessary for what Wine refers to as "a truly effective campaign to recruit un-affiliated Jews for a significant community connection." He first states two premises; secularism is good for society, and Jewish identity is worth an investment of time, energy and money. Rabbi Wine then describes what he calls seven "realities" which should guide the campaign to form Jewish communities. They are too complex to summarize here (I suggest the full article for reading), but one point is, I think, particularly relevant to recent discussion on our list: The culture and civilization of the Jews must be tied to the experience of the Jewish people, and that experience must yield some profound message. Unless Jewishness is bound to a compelling philosophic conviction, it will die of insignificance.... Now I think a great deal of our list discussion has revolved around what that message should be, the question of whether the message uniquely comes from Judaism, Humanism, or both, and whether we can present this message in a compelling enough fashion to make people feel like they belong to a group with a desirable identity. Humanistic Judaism is still in the formative stages. We need to sharpen up our message. The theistic reasons that cause most people join religious groups do not apply to us. What is the compelling, "profound" message we want to deliver? How do we tie this to Judaism from a secular vantage point? While these questions are very difficult, what gives hope is that many Jews endure almost ridiculous assaults on their intellectual integrity to try to keep Judaism in their lives in some way. We have all heard the stories of how people went to shul even though they hardly believed a single word they were saying. With desires this strong to maintain a Jewish connection, surely we have something to offer. Walter Hellman ....................................................................... From: szwarc@eros.rdc.puc-rio.br (Claudio Szwarcfiter) Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 11:12:30 -0300 Subject: HJ/ teachings First of all, there was an article (which I accidentally deleted) asking whether the Jewish situation in Brazil is similar to the situation in North America. So to reassure you that our discussion is in the same "frequency", yes, the situation here is identical. All the problems or characteristics of contemporary Judaism that apply to the USA apply to Brazil too. The difference is that, maybe because of the smaller size of the community here, no "alternative" solutions to address the problem of the continuity of the existence of Judaism are being undertaken (such as Humanistic Judaism). There is no HJ group here, and I am still talking to my friends and showing them the material I have been accumulating, so I hope to form a group here soon. As Walter Hellman has pointed very wisely, I recently felt an impulse towards my "Jewish" "Roots". My first response was, following his words, to "go to shul even though I hardly believed a single word I was saying", "enduring ridiculous assaults on my intellectual integrity". Then I accidently bumped into HJ, via my daily search for Jewish material on the Internet. So I bought some books by rabbi Wine and started reading more and more about HJ (and still reading and going to talks on Judaism in general). As Walter Hellman stated, we have a complex problem ahead of us, that is, to sharpen our message and show to the people in general that it is worth it to belong to a Jewish group, in particular to HJ. Hoping to be of some help in this discussion, what attracts me and a very large part of the young Jewish community (I am 27) is the idea of us being a people who have something to say to the world. And that has nothing to do with religion. We have been around for a long time. More than any other people, we have accumulated a very large volume of teachings on moral, ethics and views of life. And since this is really missing in the contemporary world, this could be a driving force for young unaffiliated Jews to join a HJ community. Claudio Szwarcfiter Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ....................................................................... From: SVMC08A@prodigy.com (MR ROBERT D WOLFE) Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 14:43:19, -0500 Subject: HJ/ Messages I'd like to respond to Walter Hellman's call for a discussion of the "profound" message that Humanistic Judaism ought to be sending out in order to infuse our activities with greater depth and appeal. I fully agree that some such message is needed but want to make it clear that the more powerful the message, the greater the risk. On this list message advocates tend to fall into two categories, spiritual and political. From my point of view, both groups look a little wishy-washy, and I find this true of HJ in general. Some may take this as an insult but believe it or not it is not meant as such. I had plenty of experience with more extreme versions of both spirituality and politics in the 1960s, and I am painfully aware of the fact that none of these more extreme versions are still in existence. The great virtue of HJ is that it exists, grows slowly and provides the most sensible version of secular Judaism that I am aware of, at least so far as the United States is concerned. A certain degree of wishy-washiness is probably an inevitable concomitant of these virtues. However it does make it difficult to generate a "profound" message. In my experience spiritual profundity presupposes some kind of communal structure - a rural commune or an urban collective that lives or works together - capable of generating intense emotional interactions among its membership. Groups that meet only periodically may generate such emotions from time to time but not on a regular basis. By the same token, political profundity to me implies radical politics, politics that is outside the mainstream of American life. To me the United States appears to be an increasingly fascistic, imperialistic, hard-hearted country, but I find only the faintest echo of this perception expressed in the conventional debate between liberals and conservatives. I would be very glad to see HJ move closer to a radical position in both the spiritual and political realms, but I am also intensely conscious of the fact that to do so would entail risks. I think the solution to the problem is young people. A considerable proportion of the membership of HJ consists of older people such as myself or mature adults with young children. It is normal for older people to be somewhat cautious and young people to be somewhat bold. Perhaps a campaign to form HJ groups on college campuses might provide the framework in which a more profound spiritual and political message could take shape. Bob Wolfe ------------------------------ From: Jamie Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 15:32:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: HJ/ jewish identity In response to some of the recent submissions,I have formulated some of my own thoughts. As Claudio relayed As Walter Hellman has pointed very wisely, I recelntly felt an impulse towards my "Jewish Roots." My first response was, following his words, to "go to shul even though I hardly believed a single word I was saying." Through my involvement in the Hillel this past year, I met many people of various jewish upbringings and I encountered the afore-mentioned scenario in a couple different ways. As I talked with my newly made friends, I would ask them about their involvements in temples as they were growing up. Many of them read Hebrew, some are taking it as their college foreign language to understand what they are saying in the prayers, and others simply read along in the broken Hebrew they memorized for their bar/bat mitzvahs. They never understood what they were saying as they were growing up, They went because their parents took them and said what they were told to say. This troubled me, I would ask them how they could do this, it makes me uncomfortable to say things when I don't know what they mean. I suppose not understanding what you are saying and not believing in what you are saying are two completely different issues. But I found myself attending the services on Friday nights and various other holidays despite the fact that I didn't believe hardly any of what they were saying, primarily references to God and other such issues. But I kept going to the services, all year long in fact. The services weren't geared toward any specific variety of judaism(orthodox, conservative, reformed, certainly not hj) So they didn't really fit with anyones beliefs, though we were all there together. So it wasn't really the praying that we were there to do, it was the being together with other jews and spending the evening in each others company. So, I feel that as long as we continue to find other jews to spend time with and to celebrate our"jewishness" with we will keep it alive. Even though I don't agree with them on many issues, we still have a strong culture behind us that we do share. What actually makes me feel the most jewish is doing the traditions as I know them for myself as well as talking to my non-jewish friends about being jewish. Jamie Zwick ....................................................................... From: MPrival@aol.com Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 01:50:56 -0400 Subject: HJ/ Meaning/Future of Humanistic Judaism - ------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Meaning/Future of Humanistic Judaism Walter Hellman cogently expresses the underlying dilemma of Humanistic Judaism by summarizing key sections from Sherwin Wine's penetrating article on the Unaffiliated Jew. Walter (5/20/96) wrote: > Wine reasons that ethnicity will no longer work as a basis >to organize Jews and that "Unless there is some inspirational, >ideological element, Jewish identity, like Italian identity, >will be absorbed into the the new white world...." >... > Wine next describes what he sees as the crux of the problem >for Judaism: >... > Either the Jewish experience provides an important message > and a guide for living, or Judaism turns into a cultural > potpourri of form without substance. In the absence of > conviction, Jewish identity will collapse before rival > ideologies that address the daily problems of assimilated > Jews with conviction and integrity. >... And Walter quotes what is really Wine's solution to the problem of "meaning" for Secular Humanistic Jews: > The culture and civilization of the Jews must be tied to the > experience of the Jewish people, and that experience must > yield some profound message. Unless Jewishness is bound to > a compelling philosophic conviction, it will die of > insignificance.... > Wine defines the compelling secular message as being: "...that Jewish history testifies to a world in which the only power that guarantees life and justice is human power." I, personally, strongly agree with this message, but I find it a very week reed upon which to hang a Movement such as ours. Will our free, assimilated, intermarried descendants of the next two or three generations really find so much meaning in the study of Jewish history that they will continue to expend their time, energy, and emotion on maintaining their Jewishness? How many American Jews even now have even the vaguest notion of Jewish history other than the migration of Jews from Europe to America and the Holocaust? How many Jews that you know can identify the Bar Kochba rebellion or the Chmielnicki uprising or other key events in Jewish history, much less draw an intelligent "message" from such events? It makes no sense to think that our grandchildren will be any more Jewishly literate than our generation is. So why go on if there is no basis for hoping that our movement will be sustained? I think that there are two reasons: (1) for ourselves in the present there is no realistic alternative that permits us to be Jewish with a sense of philosophical integrity--a value that we all value highly; and (2) the Israeli experience may be setting the groundwork for a truly viable Secular Humanistic Jewish society such as the one we envision for ourselves. The secular outpouring of emotion in Israel in the aftermath of the Rabin assassination may be a hint of what lies ahead. The Orthodox Rabbis are still complaining that they were not invited to speak at Rabin's funeral. They even go so far as to say that the only person at the funeral who gave what they consider to be a "Jewish spiritual message" was Bill Clinton. It is possible that Israelis will develop (in part by learning from us?) a national Secular Humanistic religion that expresses the true values and outlook of most Jewish Israelis and that our Diaspora Secular Humanistic Judaism will become a part of that larger movement. This is still not a complete answer to why Jewish-Americans (secular OR religious) are any more likely to survive as a group than Italian-Americans. Part of the rest of the answer may be that history, like election campaigns, takes totally unanticipated twists and turns and that we must be ready to provide a Secular Humanistic Judaism in the, perhaps unlikely, event that future conditions become ripe for its growth. An irrelevant postscript: A long time ago someone complained (Hershl Hartman I think) that we demean ourselves by abbreviating "Humanistic Judaism" in our messages with "HJ". I tend to agree, and have consistently written out the words since then. Now I see a tendency for many on this list to spell "Jew", "Jewish", and "Judaism" with a lower case "j". Except for e.e. cummings (who I don't think is a subscriber on this list-- and if he is then we'll all have to rethink our philosophy) or those who spell USA as "usa", I would suggest that we all make the extra effort to hit the "shift" key and capitalize "Jew", "Jewish", and "Judaism". Mike Prival Machar ....................................................................... From: eden@siftac.easynet.co.uk (Roger Eden) Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 14:36:22 +0100 Subject: HJ/ Not just the unaffiliated? When I read our literature, I do not form the impression that this is some fringe movement that appeals to the unaffiliated, to those who are today hardly Jews, to partners in mixed marriages, although I can understand why we appeal to them. In actual fact, here in the UK there seems a large ground swell of sympathy within the mainstream United Synagogue - and that compares to the Orthodox in the US, and it is the largest here. The laity contain large numbers (it seems to me) who are humanist, and would join a community - if we had one. But they won't be pioneers. Currently the shul feels Jewish, all their friends go, it's a kosher way of hatch, match and despatch (birth, marriage and death, and also bar mitzvah), whilst we cannot provide the hechsher (kosher certificate) that comes with a full community and a previous tradition. We have some interesting UK initiatives on the go, but I don't know how to tap into that mainstream. To give a specific but not unique examples when an Israeli- Palestinian MK visited here, the Embassy (as it usually does with all visiting Knesset Members) arranged for him to visit Jewish Schools, where he was subjected to bigotry and racism. Many Jewish MK's have as well, but it is less obvious. Do we counter this with a general non-racist education or do we tackle head on the religious but false interpretation of our heritage which leads them to ethnocentric views? We need both, but as HJ it is the latter which demands our attention. Our e-mail political debates would be different, if we were a recognised voice of Judaism, but then we enter the debate of what we might mean by pluralism. Certainly not that all versions are correct. Probably that we feel that we have a true ongoing tradition with the ethics of our ancestors, whilst Rabbinical Judaism has become thoroughly influenced by Christian practice. Raising ritual above idea, obedience above conscience, and using out of context extracts of ancient texts to support a non religious authoritarian and ethnocentric political agenda. Interesting that much of Christianity has broken away from this type of thinking that was prevalent in the Middle Ages, whilst the Rabbinate seems to have discovered it with fervour since W.W.II. I assume that we do see ourselves as an embryonic movement that one day will become the mainstream of Judaism, or will we always be a fringe? If our main appeal is the unaffiliated, then our survival is tenuous. I suppose I am merely seeking some reassurance of what the list members think, behind the debates. And I see nothing wrong with HJ as a shorthand in our private list. Netspeak can be used judiciously - surely? Roger Eden ....................................................................... From: owner-hj@teleport.com Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 05:55:18 CST Subject: HJ/young people In Robert Wolfe's response he said : I think the solution to the problem is young people. A considerable :proportion of the membership of HJ consists of older people such as myself :or mature adults with young children. It is normal for older people to be :somewhat cautious and young people to be somewhat bold. Perhaps a campaign :to form HJ groups on college campuses might provide the framework in which :a more profound spiritual and political message could take shape. :Bob Wolfe How many young people are interested in religion at all? I was surprised to find when I attended my 30th college reunion that instead of the 20 people that had been members of our Jewish group, there were now many more and they were members of Hillel. However, I find at our temple, Beth Or, in Deerfield, it seems as if young people aren't there. Our son and daughter-in-law are interested, but seem to be the only young people who attend during the year. If they go to functions, they are at least 15 years younger than anyone else. This makes them want to go. So what's the answer? Any ideas? Bobby in Illinois bobj2361@mcs.com ------------------------------ ....................................................................... From: Hans Leander Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 10:47:26 -0400 (EDT) Subject: HJ/ Jewish humanism I have barely digested the last group of messages on the topic of how we connect our Jewishness and humanism, so I will endevour to put forth some gut feelings. Sherwin Wine, in his book "Judaism Beyond God", chapter "Jewish Identity", section "Kinship", put forth the idea that what holds us together is, in the end, a feeling of belonging to a tribe. I tend to believe that this is probably as far as we will get in connecting to Judaism. I doubt that our history will inspire future generations to become humanists, or that our cultural background will inspire us to avoid influence from the larger society. And the feeling of belonging, being accepted in a group not for what you have done but just because you are a certain type of human being, is a strong feeling, a strong bond, a good feeling. It can carry us a long way. I do not believe that we will get far by trying to hold out Judaism as being the basis for moral and ethics. I think it is a question of personal motivation, that is, some of us feel that our Jewish upbringing or background provide a basis for our humanism, while others feel they have gotten impetus to this from other sources. To summarize, while we might have a bad conscious about this, and open ourselves up for criticism from within and without, I believe that our humanistic work in the long run will probably be rather disconnected from our Jewishness, but that our Jewishness will be adequately expressed and experienced in our communities. If we live like humanists, it really does not matter if the source is Judaism or our Jewishness; there is nothing saying that the two HAS TO BE linked. Hans Leander Boca Raton, Florida hleander@pbfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us ....................................................................... From: bab@optimation.com (Bernie Banet) Date: Tue, 21 May 96 12:13 WET DST Subject: HJ/ unaffiliated Roger Eden wrote: >If our main appeal is the unaffiliated, then our survival is tenuous. In reply: But if half of those those born of Jewish parents decide not to unaffiliate with a congregation, and a partially overlapping half of all of the young generation are intermarried, the union of those two sets is well over half, figures that I think are in the right "ballpark" for North America. It is the survival of Jews as Jews on this continent, then, that may be tenuous, not just the continuity of Humanistic Judaism. (Is the demographic situation very different in the UK, Roger?) Because of these demographic facts, the main potential "new customers" for any brand of Judaism/Jewishness may well be the unaffiliated and the intermarried: they are, it appears, going to be the majority of the Jewish ethnic population. Since these groups are also, by their self-classification, the most dissatisfied with the historic alternatives (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist) they are a very natural "target market" for secular and humanistic Judaism. If you dismiss or disparage their (I should say "our") involvement in revitalizing Jewish identity, (and the role of not-born-ethnically-Jewish spouses and "half-Jewish" children) the secular humanistic Jewish movement just might be writing off its own best "prospects" and those on whom, clearly, the survival of a distinct Jewish personal identity and culture and institutions will depend in an important way. ===Bernie== Bernard A. Banet Phone: 313 665-7842 Fax: 313 665-7872 838 Heatherway Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-2734 bab@optimation.com ....................................................................... From: RQHQ47A@prodigy.com ( ALAN YOUNG) Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 14:55:48, -0500 Subject: HJ/ joining up Bert Rothchild said: >I've been spreading the HJ message among people I know, but they are curiously reluctant to join our group. I suspect many secular Jews have some residual guilt that they are not religiously involved.< Your explanation for this phenomenon is partially correct. Many secular Jews feel guilty about their inability to pretend to believe long enough to even go through the motions. I explored "hj" with the hope of finding kindred souls (mon semblable, mon frere), but what I found instead were people who were "true believers" in their own disbelief. You hj'ers are too sure of yourselves. Your 'ani mamim' reads: "I disbelieve with perfect faith that the creator..." You're as doctrinaire as the orthodox and probably about as much fun. I don't mean this to be an anti-hj screed. I would just like you, when you try to analyze why your movement doesn't appeal to most secular Jews, to think about what you look like to people outside your movement. Alan Young rqhq47a@prodigy.com ....................................................................... From: Hans Leander Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 21:53:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: HJ/ joining up On Sat, 25 May 1996, ALAN YOUNG wrote: > Bert Rothchild said: > > You hj'ers are too sure of yourselves. Your 'ani mamim' reads: "I > disbelieve with perfect faith that the creator..." You're as > doctrinaire as the orthodox and probably about as much fun. > I don't mean this to be an anti-hj screed. I would just like you, > when you try to analyze why your movement doesn't appeal to most > secular Jews, to think about what you look like to people outside your > movement. > > Alan Young > rqhq47a@prodigy.com > Alan, there is just that slight little difference that we hj-ers do not believe in what most non-hj-ers believe in that they believe exist. What would you say if I declared that I believe in $#*&%$, who pokes into our lives only on Tuesdays and really can only inflict pain, unless it is a leap year? If you did not think (which you probably do) that I was facitious, you would say I was crazy! I can understand how believers in God think about nonbelievers, but, damn it, there has to be a difference between acting as if something we can not prove exist exists and trusting only in what we can perceive (which is, in principle, science). And God save me from that stupid comment that "Science" is a belief too (I do not believe you would say that, but many people do). I have said it before, and I say it again; it is time to stop being so understanding about superstition, even if a vast majority embrace it. Change is only brought about by pushing the truth, not by timidly putting it up as an alternative. One thing I must admit, and that is that it is very difficult to put oneself in the oppositions shoes, feel how they feel, and that is a weakness. To be able to do so probably necessary, so we should try to understand why we human beings need religion. When I get time ... Regards, Hans Leander Boca Raton, Florida ....................................................................... From: MPrival@aol.com Date: Mon, 27 May 1996 01:44:55 -0400 Subject: HJ/ Basic principles of Humanistic Judaism In a message dated 96-05-26 12:06:20 EDT, Gary Rothschild writes:: > Without a firmly defined set of guiding principles >(the movements contribution to society if you will) there is no >movement. > > When Machar/The Washington D.C. Congregation for Humanistic Judaism was founded, we included into our by-laws a set of principles for our Congregation. I'm not sure that this is what you are looking for, but here they are anyway: (a) We take pride in our identity as Jews and in the history and achievements of the Jewish people. We see Jewish history, like all history, as a purely human and natural phenomenon. (b) We find spiritual satisfaction in secular celebrations of Jewish holidays, study and discussion of Jewish and broader human issues, and action for social justice. (c) We believe that people determine the conduct of their own lives, and must take full responsibility for their behavior. (d) We believe that only people can solve human problems. We do not use worshipful or prayer-like language or invoke the name of any deity or supernatural force in our rituals or services. (e) In resolving ethical dilemmas, whether personal or social, we seek solutions that respect the dignity and self-esteem of every human being. Mike Prival ....................................................................... ------------------------------ From: RQHQ47A@prodigy.com ( ALAN YOUNG) Date: Mon, 27 May 1996 10:41:17, -0500 Subject: HJ/ proselytizing First, Steve wrote: >Dear Al: Would appreciate a longer analysis of your disagreements with HJ'ers. Thanks, Steve Shemin< Then, Hans added: >Change is only brought about by pushing the truth, not by timidly putting it up as an alternative.< I find it hard to read more than 250 words at a clip of any one's email, so I hate to subject others to more than a few sentences at a time of my leaden prose. As for Hans, that's another story. In my original letter, I tried to convey what hj looks like to an outsider, a sympathetic outsider but an outsider nevertheless. The hj'ers insist they have the truth and so do the orthodox. I don't know what the reformed and the reconstructionists think, but they bring guitars and organs into shul and generally have a good time. I was raised a conservative; they believe that a good kiddish after services with plenty of sponge cake and gefilte fish are ample reward for sitting through hours of incomprehensible Hebrew and Aramaic hocus pocus. Where does that leave hj? It's not clear to me what you do or do not believe, but give me a piece of herring (not the one in cream, the other one), a nice glass of shnaps (no ice) and I'll listen to you all day long. Alan Young rqhq47a@prodigy.com ....................................................................... From: "Jesse E. Gordon" Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 20:48:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: HJ/ Basic principles - discussion points I am not so sure about the desirability of clarity of basic principles. Indeed, it is generally thought that a certain broadness and abstractness works best for movements, whereas specificty work better for concrete organizations. The Jewish Cultural Society here in Ann Arbor needs a specific mission, but a movement needs to transcend any particular organization's objectives. Jesse E. Gordon e-mail: jgordon@umich.edu Professor Emeritus, phone: 313/971-9018 School of Social Work FAX: 313/677-8406