“But one of the overriding factors is that people find value in Jewish traditions and they want to explore them and find a way to observe certain things like Shabbat or the holidays, or celebrate lifecycles. I really like the line that humanistic Judaism is God-optional Judaism.
“We don’t use God language but a person is free to be a humanistic Jew and to believe in God at the same time. Humanistic Judaism doesn’t demand that you don’t believe in God, it doesn’t proscribe belief.
“A lot of people are drawn to Humanistic Judaism who come from blended families who have faced issues in acceptance and inclusion, people who might be from the LGBT+ community or people who have faced barriers to integration in the Jewish institutional life.”
Di Maggio grew up in Worcester before his family moved to Birmingham when he was 11, where they associated with the local Progressive Synagogue. When he was 20, he came across a book in a library, Judaism Beyond God by Rabbi Sherwin Wine. Wine, who died in 2007, was the doyen of humanistic Judaism in the States, where some 50 or so rabbis have been ordained by it over the course of 60 years.
The young Martin who was exploring his own beliefs at the time would have described his as Reconstructionist, after the movement founded in the USA by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan some 90 years ago that dispensed with the concept of a personal deity but instead represented God as a force that makes for good. “I was comfortable, and still am in certain contexts, with God as metaphor, drawing mainly on Kaplan’s ideas,” he said.
He is a member of Alyth Reform Synagogue, where he attends services, mostly on a Friday night, and takes part in its weekly chavruta study programme. The siddur he hopes to complete shortly could be used as a complement to a Progressive service, he believes, as well as by someone seeking an alternative to the current denominational options.
Celebrating at a Humanistic Judaism event[Missing Credit]
For the siddur, he has drawn on his deep interest in language – he has a master’s in language documentation and is a researcher for Wikitongues, the resource for over 7,000 languages. He speaks Ladino, on which he led sessions at last winter’s Limmud Festival.
His humanistic liturgy is not simply about replacing the divine name in any particular passage but adapting it to convey an appropriate message while preserving the original cadence. “I think there is a value in liturgical language.” Most of what he has written can be sung to traditional melodies.
His Friday night service, for instance, incorporates versions of Lecha Dodi, which retains the metaphorical image of Shabbat as a bride to be welcomed, and Sholem Aleichem, which “focuses on messengers of peace… instead of referring to angels”.
It includes a “special type of Bar’chu”, the prayer which typically opens an evening service when it is customary to bow towards the ark. Instead, HJ participants are invited to look around the room or remember a loved one and bless each person with peace, fulfilment and love.
“People bowed in recognition of the sacredness of community,” he said. “People commented it was a unique type of spirituality where they felt it was about celebrating each other – somebody described it as horizontal rather than vertical.”
Instead of the traditional formula for the Shema, the group says Shema Yisrael Kulanu Echad, Ha’am Echad, “Hear O Israel, We Are One, Humanity is One”. “A lot of people feel the Shema is missing from some humanistic services. I always include it. I get people to close their eyes and listen to the world around them for a couple of minutes.”
Table laid for a Rosh Hashanah Seder with Humanistic Judaism UK[Missing Credit]
He has come up with versions of brachot for different occasions. So his blessing for the candles begins Baruch ha’or hamasoret, “Blessed is the light in the tradition” and at kiddush they say “Blessed is the light in life and the fruit of the vine”. When he substitutes phrases, he has tried to use words drawn from Tanach, following time-honoured liturgical practice.
His role as the group’s lead officiant comes on the back of a four-year study course with the USA-based International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism – he is currently in the process of upgrading his qualification. Some people might call him a rabbi but, more modestly, he sees himself as “a facilitator”.
The IISHJ’s Israeli affiliate Tmura now has 50 centres and there are humanistic Jewish groups in countries ranging from Portugal to Australia. It is early days for HJ UK but in Di Maggio it has a representative committed to its growth.
“A lot of people say this is what they believe, they just didn’t know it existed,” he said.
