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International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews Opens Headquarters in New York and Appoints Executive Director

September 10, 2000

NEW YORK - The International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews (IFSHJ) announced today during its Eighth Biennial Conference that it has relocated its headquarters to New York and appointed Myrna Baron as Executive Director. Previously, the IFSHJ was located at the Pivnick Center for Humanistic Judaism in Farmington Hills, MI.

The office, which is temporarily located on 57th Street and will begin a search for permanent space after the conference, will become an international centre for secular Jews throughout the world. Its focus will be to support secular Jewish communities internationally. It will serve as a resource and clearing house for general information and develop literature and educational material, conferences, symposia, and communications to assist in building communities and promote the message and philosophy of Secular Humanistic Judaism in the world community.

Ms. Baron has been a public relations professional for more than 15 years, developing and implementing programs for non-profit, arts, and technology clients. For the last 11 years, she was president of her own public relations agency in New York City. She has been involved in Secular Humanistic Judaism since 1989, and founded The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in New York City in 1991 in order to provide her then-very-young daughter a cultural Jewish community where she would be educated in her Jewish heritage from a secular humanistic perspective. She served as president of The City Congregation until 1999. She remains on the Board of the Congregation and is co-director of The City Congregation KidSchool. In the early 1990s she served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.

According to Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, North American co-chair of the International Federation and founder of the branch of Judaism known as Humanistic Judaism, "We are excited to have this opportunity to open an office in New York in order to strengthen our connection to the Jewish public and other Jewish organizations. Myrna's demonstrated commitment and expertise on the local level for The City Congregation will be a tremendous asset to our international organization as we advance Secular Humanistic Judaism as a compelling and authentic option for modern Jewish identity."

Secular Humanistic Jews understand Judaism as the human-centered history, culture, civilization, ethical values, and shared journeys of the Jewish people. Encompassing many languages and a vast body of literature, art, dance, music, and food, Secular Humanistic Jews see Judaism as much more than a set of religious beliefs and practices. Secular Jews have a strong connection to Jewish history and culture and are committed to the future of the Jewish people. Secular Humanistic Jews rely on reason, rather than faith, to understand the world and believe that human intelligence and experience are capable of guiding their lives. For Secular Jews, the message of Jewish history is that humans have the power and the responsibility to take control of their own fate.

The International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews is a coalition of 50,000 Jews in 12 countries who are organized into communities and schools. The Federation links national organizations in Israel, the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Honorary chairs of the International Federation are Albert Memmi, the well-known French writer and professor of sociology at the University of Paris, and Yehuda Bauer, the noted historian, Holocaust scholar, and Chair of the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research. The co-chairs of the Federation are Felix Posen (Europe), who established two small colleges in Israel dedicated to developing ways to teach Judaism as a culture; Yair Tzaban (Israel), former member of the Knesset, former Minister of Immigrant Absorption and a member of the Security Cabinet under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin; and Rabbi Wine (North America), founder of Humanistic Judaism.

The International Federation is affiliated with the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, the educational arm of the Secular Humanistic Jewish movement, training rabbis, leaders, and educators for Secular Humanistic congregations and communities. The first humanistic rabbi was ordained by the Institute in October, 1999. In North America, the Federation is also affiliated with the Society for Humanistic Judaism and the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations.