Why do Humanistic Jews form congregations?
Humanistic Jews form congregations to establish a community to share their beliefs and life experiences, to enrich each other. Humanistic Jews celebrate Jewish holidays. We emphasize our historical and natural origins and highlight the Humanistic values within the holiday stories. We celebrate life-cycle events, such as baby namings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and weddings, creating ceremonies to suit our needs and tastes. We learn together through speakers, discussions, and classes about Jewish history, Israel, current events, philosophy, etc. We take time at Shabbat services, conferences, etc. to explore together ideas about life and relationships and to affirm our connection to the larger human family. We do not use worshipful or prayer-like language or the name of any supernatural force in our services. We do believe in and practice traditional values of study and education, acts of kindness, and repair of the world.
