Robert Alter To Be Keynote Speaker at the Tenth Biennial Conference of Secular Jews in San Francisco with Amos Oz at Closing Session

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISO, October 20, 2004 – Distinguished literary critic and acclaimed author Robert Alter will be the keynote speaker when secular Jews from around the world gather in San Francisco for the Tenth Biennial Conference of the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, December 3-5, 2004. Professor Alter is the author of The Art of Biblical Narrative, The Art of Biblical Poetry, the lyrical translation Genesis, and most recently, his acclaimed The Five Books of Moses: A Translation With Commentary. He teaches literary aspects of the Bible at the University of California at Berkeley.

Amos Oz, an Israel Prize winning author whose books have been translated into over 30 languages, will address the closing session of the conference on Sunday, December 5. Professor Oz, author of the new A Tale of Love and Darkness and recipient of several international awards, will discuss Jewish literature as an important link to Jewish culture, heritage and identity for Secular Jews.

Entitled The “Bible” of Secular Humanistic Judaism: A Journey from Ancient through Modern Jewish Literature, the conference will explore how modern cultural, secular and Humanistic Jews identify with and embrace the Jewish literary heritage and include it in cultural Jewish education, celebration, and identity. The conference will delve into the literary heritage developed throughout Jewish history, from ancient texts to modern poetry, as leading scholars and modern philosophers assemble from around the globe to glean material to include in a 'bible' or canon of Secular Humanistic Judaism.

According to Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism and North American Co-chair of the IFSHJ, "Secular Humanistic Jews consider the full Jewish literary heritage a treasury of information about the Jewish and human condition. Yet we often grapple with selecting meaningful texts to use in our Jewish celebration and education. This gathering of dynamic scholars and literary minds will present a vital opportunity to collect and examine our literature. In the end we plan to assemble, what will become, a bible of our literary heritage for Secular Humanistic Jews."

In addition to Professors Alter and Oz, the featured speakers include Naomi Seidman who will speak on Haskalah and Yiddish literature in her talk, Secular Midrash, Modern Yiddish Literature, and the Echoes of Tradition (Graduate Theological Union); Ruth Kartun-Blum, who will speak on poetry in her presentation entitled Motherhood, Mourning and Politics in Israeli Women's Poetry (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem); Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi on modern literature, With Both Feet on the Ground: The Comic Muse Follows the Jews to America (Hebrew University and Duke University visiting professor); Azzan Yadin on a secular understanding of rabbinic literature (Rutgers University); and Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine on How do We Live the Literature? (founder of Humanistic Judaism, co-dean of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism).

Secular Humanistic Jews understand Judaism as the human-centered history, culture, civilization, ethical values and shared experiences of the Jewish people. It encompasses many languages, a vast body of literature, and a wide array of cultural expression, including literature, art, dance and music. Secular Jews believe that Jewish history is a human saga - a testament to the significance of human responsibility, dignity and courage.

The conference will be hosted in collaboration with Kol Hadash, a Humanistic Jewish member community and held at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street, San Francisco.

For additional conference information and registration, contact 212 564 6711 x 303 or visit www.ifshj.org.

The American Jewish Identity Survey (AJIS 2001), conducted by leading demographers of the Jewish population, the late Professor Egon Mayer, Professor Barry Kosmin and Dr. Ariela Keysar, was the first study to collect and analyze information on the religiosity and secularity of Americans. Its results concluded that nearly one half of American Jews identify themselves as secular or somewhat secular. One half of American Jews are unaffiliated and do not belong to any Jewish organization or community center.

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

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 Academic Advisor of the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research.

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 Institute has been ordaining humanistic rabbis since 1999, and recently introduced the Israeli branch of its rabbinical program. In North America, the Federation is also affiliated with the Society for Humanistic Judaism, the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations, and Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring.

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