Sherwin T. Wine

Sherwin Wine was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 25, 1928. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B., A.M.) and the Hebrew Union College. In 1963 he founded the Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism.

In 1969 he helped establish the Society for Humanistic Judaism to serve as the national outreach vehicle for the humanistic movement. In 1986 he helped to create the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, a worldwide association of national organizations in North America, Israel, Belgium, England, France, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Wine is the Dean of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in North America.

Wine has been instrumental in organizing the Leadership Conference of Secular and Humanistic Jews, the Center for New Thinking, the North American Committee for Humanism, the Humanist Institute, and the Conference of Liberal Religion.

Rabbi Wine will retire as rabbi of the Birmingham Temple in June 2003. He will maintain his involvement with the Society and continue to travel to SHJ communities and serve the needs of Humanistic Jews. He also will continue in his positions as dean of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism and as co-chair of the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews.

The American Humanist Association has selected him Humanist of the Year for 2003. The Humanist of the Year award was established in 1953 to recognize a person of national or international reputation who, through the application of humanist values, has made a significant contribution to the improvement of the human condition. As Humanist of the Year, Rabbi Wine will join such notables as Stephen Jay Gould, Betty Friedan, Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Margaret Sanger, among others.

Rabbi Wine is the author of Humanistic Judaism, Judaism Beyond God, Celebration and Staying Sane In A Crazy World. In addition, he is a principle contributor to Judaism in a Secular Age: An Anthology of Secular Humanistic Jewish Thought.