Video of Rabbi Wine's Memorial

Rabbi Wine's memorial was quite emotional and inspirational. Anyone interested in Humanism and just how pervasive and life-changing it can be should review Rabbi Wine's past and read some of his books. The video is available on line now from the organization he founded:

"Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, the founder of Humanistic Judaism, was killed in a car crash on July 21, 2007, while vacationing in Morocco. He was 79. Rabbi Wine laid out the intellectual foundations of Humanistic Judaism, creating many of its celebrations, rituals, and educational materials. In 1963, he founded The Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism, and in 1969 established the Society for Humanistic Judaism.

You can view it at: The Birmingham Temple

WebCast of Memorial Service for Rabbi Wine

Arrangements are being made for the memorial service for Rabbi Wine being held at the Birmingham Temple on Friday morning at 10:am EDT to be streamed live through a link on our website – www.shj.org. People will need Quicktime Player, which can be downloaded, to view the live feed.

The family of Rabbi Wine has suggested that contributions in his memory be directed to support the Secular Humanistic Jewish Movement he established. They have selected the 21st Century Fund, which benefits the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, the Society for Humanistic Judaism and the Birmingham Temple. Donations may be made payable to the 21st Century Fund and sent to:

Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine Memorial Fund
c/o The Birmingham Temple
28611 West Twelve Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334

In the next day we hope to post some readings on hope and courage, which were favorites of Sherwin, on our website for you to include in your community memorials if you so choose. These are passages that Sherwin wrote.

Thank you all for your support.

Farewell Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine

Much of this is taken from a letter from Greg M. Epstein of the
Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University

Rabii Wine was a teacher, a fellow Humanisst, AHA Humanist of the Year, and one of the greatest Humanist leaders of the 20th Century. Rabbi Wine and his longtime partner, Richard McMains, were vacationing in Morocco. Returning from dinner Saturday evening July 21 in Essaouira, their taxicab was hit by another driver. Both Rabbi Wine and the taxi driver were killed instantly. Richard survived the collision and currently is hospitalized in stable condition.

For a press release with more detailed information about Wine, dubbed "the atheist rabbi" by Time magazine in 1965, including regarding the memorial service currently being planned, click here or visit the Society for Humanistic Judaism. To hear Rabbi Wine speak on Humanistic Judaism, click here for an interview recorded at Harvard University in April 2007. A video of Rabbi Wine’s stirring speech at Harvard in April 2007 will be available later this week at http://harvardhumanist.org.

Around the world, Wine taught that human dignity, courage and love are our most important values, not religious obedience. He publicly debated religious fundamentalists such as Jerry Falwell and Meir Kahane. And he refused the religious veneer that America so values in its leaders -- though he kept the title rabbi he did not pray or praise a god he did not believe in.

And yet the movement Sherwin founded and the career he pioneered, was never about being against god but rather about moving beyond god to create humanist community, led by humanist professionals, for the benefit of all human beings. If we learn one thing from Rabbi Wine's loss, let it be this: now that the world's attention has turned to the 1.1 billion non-religious people on earth, and now that bestselling books on atheism by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have shown millions what Humanists do not believe in, let us follow Sherwin's example and dedicate ourselves to building a positive alternative to traditional religion. Let us build communities, organizations, and families that do good for ourselves and others, based on the Humanist ethic of reason, compassion and creativity