The Spinoza Havurah is an online Humanistic Jewish community dedicated to the cultivation of non-theistic spirituality.
Our Mission
The Spinoza Havurah is an online Humanistic Jewish community dedicated to the cultivation of non-theistic spirituality. Through our celebrations and observances of shabbat and Jewish holidays, our encouragement to self-improvement and ethical action, and our engagement with textual study we provide a place for our members to explore and express their spirituality in a non-theistic context.
Our Values
We value Jewish culture and history, its ethical values, traditions, celebrations, literature, music, and art.
We value the philosophy of Humanism and its commitment to naturalism, reason, skepticism, science, democracy, morality, and human rights.
We value spirituality and the practices that better our lives through feelings of inspiration, inner peace, love, connection, and wonder.
We value education and the lifelong process of learning that helps us to better ourselves and more fully understand the world around us.
We value our responsibilities to our fellow human beings and the requirement to care for them in whatever ways we can. We encourage our members to give tzedakah (charity), volunteer for a noble cause, and get involved in social justice initiatives.
We value the inherent dignity and worth of every person, and we are committed to radical inclusion in our community. All are welcome, including but not limited to: Jews (patrilineal, matrilineal, and converts), non-Jews, “intermarried” people, LGBTQ people, BIPOC, and people with disabilities.
We value integrity, “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” Accordingly, in our communal celebrations we say what we mean, and we mean what we say. We don’t attempt to redefine religious terminology to fit our humanistic/secular worldview; nor do we engage in the worship of a deity that we don’t believe to exist.
The Spinoza Havurah 