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President's Message
September 2007

My Path to G-d

A comment I made in my first President's column about being a "refugee from secular Judaism" has generated curiosity about my religious upbringing. Several individual congregants and our clergy have expressed at least mild interest in my story, so I thought I would share with the wider community.

My religious evolution is certainly related to the themes of renewal and divine sovereignty of the upcoming High Holy Days.

My parents were (and are) both atheists. My father always identified as Jewish (primarily in the context of discussing anti-Semitism), but did not go to synagogue or celebrate any of the holidays.

My mother and I regularly attended a congregation, the Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that rejects a connection to G-d.

Yes, you read that correctly. There is a sect of Jews who subscribe to a movement called Humanistic Judaism. It was founded in the Detroit area by a man named Sherwin Wine, a former Reform Rabbi, who coincidentally died last month in a car accident.

Humanistic Judaism maintains that since G-d's existence cannot be rationally proven, there is no sense in investing energies in worshiping G-d. Rabbi Wine also frequently stated in sermons that since G-d, if he exists, allows terrible things to happen, we should not say prayers extolling G-d as wonderful.

Despite the rejection of the core value of Judaism, Humanistic Jews assert a connection to Judaism based on a shared history and certain cultural markers. This was the theology of my youth.

Consistent with such early influences, I was an ardent atheist in my teenage years and thought religious people of all faiths to be simple and weak. I believed that science and reason held the answers to all of the mysteries of the universe which were out there waiting to be exposed through scientific investigation.

I had no great epiphany that suddenly changed my religious views. Rather, as I matured and became educated, I started to realize that not all worldly phenomena have a scientific or rational explanation. You might say that I began applying my principles of reason and rationality to reason and rationality and was disappointed by the incomplete results.

I concluded that it was inconceivable that everything was the result of randomness. As a young adult in college and law school, I was also exposed, for the first time, to kind and intelligent people who had a positive view of religion. Such individuals were orthodox in their religious outlook, yet tolerant deep thinkers.

Ironically, such individuals were, for the most part, Christians, not Jews. Prior to my adulthood, I had no idea such people existed due to my rather limited associations.

I started to read more about Judaism (and Christianity) and occasionally attend Shabbat services. I realized that Judeo-Christian religion was much richer and complicated than I was raised to believe. This, in turn, led me to attend services more frequently and eventually to the Conservative Movement.

Ultimately, I realized that G-d does not demand blind belief. Rather, He asks that we make a choice based upon all that is available to us, including faith and reason.

I, for one, choose to believe. I choose to be a Jew.

Jamie Green
President