BALTIMORE JEWISH CULTURAL CHAVURAH

This "fifth denomination," founded in the 1960s by a Reform-ordained rabbi, describes itself as humanistic rather than atheistic.

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Secular Humanistic Judaism is a movement that believes Judaism was created by people to meet human needs and that it is most meaningfully expressed by celebrating human knowledge, power and responsibility. The movement was founded in 1963, when Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine (1928-2007) established the Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit. A Reform-ordained rabbi, Wine sought to give voice to and create community for those who value Jewish culture, heritage, history, celebrations, wisdom and peoplehood through a human-centered understanding of the world.

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Read more from Paul Golin, Executive Director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, in My Jewish Learning.