The history of Humanistic Judaism begins with its founder, Rabbi Sherwin Wine. Originally ordained as a Reform rabbi, in 1963 he broke with the Reform movement when he founded the Birmingham Temple now located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. This new congregation was based on humanistic, as opposed to theistic, principles. Rabbi Wine’s ideas about Humanistic Judaism can be gleaned from his writings, including his seminal work “Judaism Beyond God.”
CHJ was founded some four years later by Jeanne and John Franklin, who had been members of the Birmingham Temple. After moving to Westport, Connecticut, they gathered a group of like-minded Jews to start a new congregation based on the philosophy of Sherwin Wine. At its inception in 1967, CHJ became the first humanistic Jewish congregation outside of Michigan. Subsequently, other congregations followed and soon there were 25 such congregations in the U.S. and more in Canada and elsewhere throughout the world. Existing and Humanistic Jewish communities in formation in North America, Canada and worldwide are listed here.
Throughout its history, CHJ has never owned a building. Its members have long favored the model of renting venues for our holiday services and other programs, rather than owning and maintaining a permanent home. We also enjoy the warmth and camaraderie of smaller group meetings in members’ homes. In recent years, CHJ has live streamed certain of its services and programs to make them more accessible to all members.
Today Humanistic Judaism is recognized by the United Jewish Communities of North America as one of the five branches of Judaism. We are affiliated with the Society for Humanistic Judaism and the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, active worldwide.