Humanistic Judaism

05/29/2026

05/28/2026

- Today In Jewish History - 1858: In Wisconsin Jewish immigrants John and Mary (Perles) Black welcomed into the world Lizzie Black Kander (May 28, 1858 – July 24, 1940). Kander was an influential American Progressive Era social reformer, philanthropist, and author who is widely remembered as the "Jane Addams of Milwaukee." She dedicated her life to aiding and assimilating newly arrived Eastern European Jewish immigrants in Wisconsin. She is internationally famous as the primary compiler of The Settlement Cook Book, one of the most successful fundraising and instructional cookbooks in American history.

Kander organized highly popular cooking and housekeeping classes for immigrant women to teach nutrition, sanitation, and American-style cooking. When she asked The Settlement's board of directors for an $18 budget to print recipe booklets for her students, they refused the request. Undeterred, Kander raised funds independently from local merchants by selling advertisement space. She published 1,000 copies of the first edition, subtitled The Way to a Man's Heart. The book became an instant national classic. It went through more than 40 editions, sold over two million copies worldwide, and was eventually inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame.

05/28/2026

"The only recognizable feature of hope is action."

Grace Paley
Humanistic Jewish Role Model
2018-2019

05/26/2026

🎉 We are excited to welcome Ashley to the SHJ family!🌟
Ashley has recently adopted Judaism through SHJ and has chosen the Hebrew name Zahava Liora. Read the blog link in the comments to learn more about Ashley’s journey to Humanistic Judaism!

05/25/2026

Dana Nessel and Randi Weingarten joined JFASD leaders to discuss religious liberty, democracy and public education.

05/22/2026

𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘶𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘶𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 “𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴,” 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 (𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺) 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳.

𝘐𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘶𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘶𝘰𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘶𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺.

𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘶𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.
https://shj.org/living-humanistic-judaism/celebrate-holidays/shavuot/

05/21/2026

"The major harvest of the Jewish people throughout the past two hundred years has not been wheat. It has been the written word."

Today is Shavuot, a Jewish holiday traditionally understood as commemorating the covenant between Moses and God at Mount Sinai. In Secular Humanistic Judaism, Shavuot is reinterpreted as a celebration of Jewish learning, literature, and the cultural importance of books.

To explore the origins of this perspective and how it reflects Humanistic Jewish values, read Rabbi Sherwin Wine’s 1995 essay here: https://tinyurl.com/4fkeyhp7

05/21/2026

- Today In Jewish History - 1928: The first Pacific Coast Jewish Social Service Conference opened at Yosemite Valley, CA marking the first time that representatives of all Jewish social service agencies serving the entire Pacific coast from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada have gathered together. The Pacific Coast Jewish Social Service Conference was a landmark gathering held from May 20–22, 1928.

05/20/2026

If you haven't had a chance to check out the work of our pluralistic advocacy initiative, Jews for a Secular Democracy, this is the perfect opportunity! Kicking off Pride month in a collaborative event with Keshet, JFASD will be providing the information, resources, and assistance to contact your local congress people and demand the protection of 🌈 ALL🌈 families through the defense of true religious freedom! Registration link in comments 👇