About: Birmingham Temple

The Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit (founded as The Birmingham Temple) was the first Humanistic Jewish congregation. As being part of the Humanistic Judaism movement, the congregation observes holidays, traditions and rituals focused on the humanistic and cultural aspects of Judaism, rather than the religious aspects. For example: for Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the Jewish boy or girl picks a hero that he or she connects with and writes a thesis, which is ultimately given to the congregation. The person works with a mentor, a senior member at the temple, in studying many different heroes before finally choosing one to write the paper on. The paper highlights important contributions the individual makes/made in his or her life to humanity, and why and how the hero was humanistic.