Affiliated Organizations
International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews
The world expression of the Secular Humanistic movement is the International
Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews. The Federation currently consists
of national organizations in Israel, the United States, Canada, Belgium,
Britain, France, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and the countries
of the former Soviet Union. Some 50,000 Jews are involved. The co-chairs
of the International Federation are Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, founder of the
Humanistic Jewish movement in North America, and Yair Tsaban, former Minister
of Immigration and Absorption in Israel. The honorary co-chairs are Albert
Memmi, well-known French writer and professor of sociology at the University
of Paris, and Yehuda Bauer, noted historian and Holocaust scholar at Yad
Vashem in Jerusalem. There are six regions in the International Federation:
North America, Israel, Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and Australia.
IFSHJ Website: www.ifshj.org
North American Federation
The North American Federation is composed of two organizations:
the Society for Humanistic Judaism and the Congress of Secular Jewish
Organizations, which together embrace more than fifty communities and
15,000 people across the United States and Canada. Both organizations
are engaged in building new communities and groups, educating adults
and children, and creating holiday and life-cycle ceremonies and materials.
SHJ Website: www.shj.org
CSJO Website: www.csjo.org
International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism
Established in 1985 in Jerusalem to serve the needs of the growing Secular
Humanistic movement, the International Institute for Secular Humanistic
Judaism is the intellectual and educational arm of the International
Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews. Its two primary purposes are to
commission and publish educational materials for the movement and to
train rabbis, leaders, teachers, educators and spokespersons for the
movement. The Institute office is located at the Ben and Lorraine Pivnick
Center for Humanistic Judaism in Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit,
Michigan.
The Institute offers seminars and training programs in North America
and Israel. The professional programs offered to members of the Secular
Humanistic Jewish movement in North America are the Rabbinic Program,
the Leadership Program, the Educators Program, the Musicians Program,
and the Spokespersons Program. Seminars for the programs are taught at
a variety of locations throughout North America. Look here for a current
schedule of seminar dates and locations. Most seminars are also open
for continuing Jewish education. The Institute includes faculty members
of major universities throughout the world who serve as part-time lecturers
and instructors. Distinguished writers, intellectuals, and ordained Secular
Humanistic Rabbis also serve as faculty.
IISHJ Website:
www.iishj.org 
