Sherwin Wine

Sherwin Wine
BornJanuary 25, 1928
DiedJuly 21, 2007 (aged 79)
Essaouira, Morocco
OccupationRabbi
Years active1951–2007

Sherwin Theodore Wine (January 25, 1928 – July 21, 2007), Hebrew name שמעון בן צבי, Shimon ben Tzvi, was an American rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism, a movement that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as sources of Jewish identity rather than belief in any gods.[1][2] He was originally ordained as a Reform rabbi but later founded the Birmingham Temple, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism, in 1963.

In 1969, Wine founded the Society for Humanistic Judaism (SHJ). He was later a founder of several other Humanistic Jewish organizations, and was the founder of several humanist organizations that are not specifically Jewish (such as the Humanist Institute and the International Association of Humanist Educators, Counselors, and Leaders) as well as the co-founder of Americans for Religious Liberty, which promotes separation of church and state. He was the provost of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism at the time of his death.

Wine lectured on a wide array of topics after 1976 under the auspices of the Center for New Thinking, which he also founded. The American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year for 2003.

  1. ^ "International Federation for Ssecular & Humanistic Judaism". Ifshj.org. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  2. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (July 25, 2007). "Sherwin Wine, 79, Founder of Splinter Judaism Group, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-16.