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description=The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism is a secular Jewish community in New York City. As humanists, we believe that reason is the source of truth, and compassion is the key to morality. Learn about our diverse members, our secular b mitzvah program, our Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh, our Jewish KidSchool and Preschool, and our upcoming events.;

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the city congregation for humanistic judaism 0 skip to content community what we believe who we are what we ve written rabbi tzemah s blog education jewish preschool jewish kidschool b mitzvah program adult education calendar celebrations shabbat passover high holidays other holidays lifecycle events get involved become a member volunteer contact donate open menu close menu community what we believe who we are what we ve written rabbi tzemah s blog education jewish preschool jewish kidschool b mitzvah program adult education calendar celebrations shabbat passover high holidays other holidays lifecycle events get involved become a member volunteer contact donate open menu close menu folder community back what we believe who we are what we ve written rabbi tzemah s blog folder education back jewish preschool jewish kidschool b mitzvah program adult education calendar folder celebrations back shabbat passover high holidays other holidays lifecycle events folder get involved back become a member volunteer contact donate secular and cultural judaism the city congregation for humanistic judaism is a secular jewish community in new york city as humanists we believe that reason is the source of truth and compassion is the key to morality learn more about what we believe our diverse members we are jews by birth jews by choice and non jewish partners of jewish members we are singles students young families and retirees we are single parents adoptive families blended families and child free we are straight gay lesbian bisexual and transgender we come from throughout the new york city tri state area manhattan brooklyn queens the bronx staten island westchester long island and new jersey to be part of this remarkable secular jewish congregation learn more about who we are our secular b mitzvah program the city congregation s b mitzvah program is tailored to each individual young person to ensure a rite of passage that is not only challenging but captivating the process gives secular jewish teenagers a deep personal and lasting link to their heritage with this program we re not pushing something on her we re sharing what we want her to value and she s choosing what s important to her a parent in our b mitzvah program learn more about our b mitzvah program upcoming events calendar oct 16 october 16 2026 the story behind old and new elements in modern palestine october 16 2026 longtime city congregation member paula grande will talk about innovative artist temima gezari her background work and what she portrayed in her striking mural displayed in the saj social hall read more october 16 2026 oct 18 october 18 2026 b mitzvah workshop hero role model october 18 2026 the role model workshop is for students parents and mentors for whom this assignment is not yet complete read more october 18 2026 oct 25 october 25 2026 pirates of penzance in concert in yiddish october 25 2026 the national yiddish theater folksbiene presents gilbert sullivan s comedic musical sung in yiddish with english supertitles read more october 25 2026 nov 8 november 8 2026 b mitzvah workshop parent orientation november 8 2026 the role model workshop is for students parents and mentors for whom this assignment is not yet complete read more november 8 2026 nov 14 november 14 2026 beatles walking tour november 14 2026 follow in the footsteps of the beatles in new york city with beatles expert and tcc president susan ryan learn about the group s connection to new york as well as fascinating facts about the history of the city read more november 14 2026 jan 10 january 10 2027 b mitzvah workshop kickoff meeting january 10 2027 the role model workshop is for students parents and mentors for whom this assignment is not yet complete read more january 10 2027 mar 21 march 21 2027 b mitzvah workshop family values march 21 2027 the role model workshop is for students parents and mentors for whom this assignment is not yet complete read more march 21 2027 view more upcoming events hear from city congregation members for us belief in the supernatural just isn t possible but we cannot abandon our jewish identities or our bonds with other jews janice john both of us were born and raised in observant jewish families for the first time in our over 60 years we can celebrate shabbat and our jewish heritage without mouthing words that have no meaning for us devera michael this is what i ask for in a synagogue to understand all the words i say and to only say words i really believe lisa the services honored what i honored and didn t sound one false note and the communal meal and conversations afterward have especially made the holidays something to look forward to claire rabbi tzemah s blog rabbi tzemah s blog april 27 2026 why commemorate yom hashoah april 27 2026 as a descendant of holocaust survivors trained in historical disciplines not a week goes by in which i don t remember the holocaust is central to my own transformation into a humanist and i write about it constantly so many of us in the third generation were tasked with never forgetting and we have not forgotten but why then do we need a special day dedicated to commemoration read more april 27 2026 april 10 2026 passover freedom s struggle april 10 2026 at our sweet congregational seder this year we celebrated freedom more authentically than any year i can remember many people arrived at the seder straight from the no kings protests that took place across the 50 states of america read more april 10 2026 march 1 2026 what we can learn from the megillah march 1 2026 it feels wrong to draw parallels between a book that is fictional and a war that is really happening in which people are dying instead i will talk about what we can learn from the megillah especially from its ending read more march 1 2026 february 1 2026 what our eyes plainly behold february 1 2026 on february 1st we celebrate the jewish arbor day or tu bishvat in the mediterranean climes of ancient israel it made sense to celebrate the holiday in late january or early february yet here in the northeastern united states we had the worst snowstorm in ten years followed by a deep freeze read more february 1 2026 january 1 2026 calendars january 1 2026 at the beginning of the year i ruminate about calendars while we mostly take calendars for granted if we look more closely we d notice some interesting features read more january 1 2026 december 1 2025 a life worth living december 1 2025 while thinking about thankfulness in challenging times a famous yiddish adage comes to mind at least you have your health i ve never liked this sliver of an aphorism read more december 1 2025 november 1 2025 why do we protest november 1 2025 on october 18th many of us joined the no kings rally in manhattan to protest the encroaching autocracy of donald trump more than 7 million people across the united states joined these protests read more november 1 2025 september 30 2025 a time to look inward september 30 2025 the high holidays rosh hashanah and yom kippur are commonly understood as a process of reconsideration followed by resolution with a gap of eight days between rosh hashanah and yom kippur there is always a saturday or a shabbat that separates them a lull where we take a break read more september 30 2025 september 1 2025 sweetness and change september 1 2025 two symbols are quintessential to rosh hashanah reflecting distinct facets of this holiday there are apples and honey which symbolize a sweet new year the second symbol is the shofar or the ram s horn read more september 1 2025 october 1 2024 hope october 1 2024 at tcc we dedicate our high holidays to one particular theme each year this year it is hope which in my seventh year at tcc is more personal than usual read more october 1 2024 september 2 2024 why we need the jewish holiday of love september 2 2024 read more september 2 2024 june 3 2024 the power of incrementalism june 3 2024 rabbi tarfon s saying you are not required to finish your work yet neither are you permitted to desist from it recently hit the national stage in shaina taub s tony award acceptance speech it is a maxim we celebrate at the city congregation and it is one i respect although i also have some reservations read more june 3 2024 december 30 2020 toasting to the new year december 30 2020 in the last few days i have been asked multiple times what are you doing for new year s eve and the sad answer is probably not much read more december 30 2020 november 23 2020 poetry for turkey and thanksgiving november 23 2020 even though i only eat turkey once a year on thanksgiving i still manage to feel badly about it though not quite as badly as this hyperbolic poem implies read more november 23 2020 november 3 2020 rabbi s sermon on yom kippur my pillars november 3 2020 this high holiday season i find myself leaning into the pillars that support my world the values that i hold dearest and the poetry that expresses them best read more november 3 2020 october 29 2020 rabbi s sermon on kol nidre ruth october 29 2020 kol nidrei is usually a time to look at your commitments and see how you may need to adjust them it is a time for renewal and rejuvenation a time for promising to improve but we are in the midst of a storm read more october 29 2020 october 13 2020 rabbi s sermon on rosh hashanah the covid test october 13 2020 on so many days this past spring and summer life seems to fray at the seams i can t tell you how many times i have felt like screaming read more october 13 2020 october 1 2020 building my sukkah october 1 2020 for many rabbis the day after yom kippur brings a sense of relief the sermons we wrote have been delivered they either resonated or they didn t and now they are in the past read more october 1 2020 september 22 2020 fasting as a humanist on yom kippur september 22 2020 i fast on yom kippur fasting is difficult read more september 22 2020 august 31 2020 for everything there is a season august 31 2020 it is so hard to believe that next week the fall season will officially begin on the eve of september we look forward with apprehension to a disruptive fall season read more august 31 2020 june 1 2020 counting the days june 1 2020 we are doing a lot of counting these days we count the sick and we count the dead we count the unemployment numbers and the days that have blurred together into one read more june 1 2020 may 1 2020 ecclesiastes and endurance may 1 2020 we have been in lock down for seven weeks seven weeks of not hugging friends seven weeks of not celebrating births of not mourning deaths read more may 1 2020 april 1 2020 hope during the covid 19 outbreak april 1 2020 it is spring outside the beautiful dogwood tree outside my window is about to flower and the coronavirus has ravaged new york city read more april 1 2020 march 1 2020 and the young shall lead march 1 2020 purim the holiday of hilarity is coming up in a week and a half one of the ideas that purim celebrates is the idea of turning things upside down of celebrating irony read more march 1 2020 february 1 2020 secular spirituality february 1 2020 last shabbat we heard a wonderful talk by a member on rational spirituality the only complaint that i heard was that it was too short read more february 1 2020 january 1 2020 hope in dark times january 1 2020 on these darkest of days of the year our ancestors around the world sought to push away the gloom with holidays of light this year it seems we need to summon our reserves for this push read more january 1 2020 december 17 2019 why i love city congregation for secular humanistic judaism december 17 2019 on these darkest of days of the year our ancestors around the world sought to push away the gloom with holidays of light this year it seems we need to summon our reserves for this push read more december 17 2019 december 1 2019 thanksgiving december 1 2019 many years ago i wrote a poem that begins i sing when the day comes for at night there is only anguish this poem comes to mind this year as i am thinking about thanksgiving read more december 1 2019 november 8 2019 the mystery of elisha november 8 2019 after the high of the high holidays and the earnest resolutions i made everything i write seems somehow ordinary or mundane read more november 8 2019 august 13 2019 tisha b av in jail august 13 2019 yesterday something changed for me until yesterday i believed that my days of stopping traffic of getting arrested of civil disobedience were over at least until my beautiful children were older read more august 13 2019 read more newsletter block this newsletter signup form needs a storage option edit the block and enter a storage location via the storage tab sign up for our mailing list get emails with news updates from the city congregation first name last name email address sign up thank you for signing up info citycongregation org 212 213 1002 mailing address the city congregation for humanistic judaism po box 33 335 e 14th st new york ny 10009 services events and programs are held on the upper west side of manhattan other locations around new york city and online donate community what we believe who we are what we ve written rabbi tzemah s blog education jewish preschool jewish kidschool b mitzvah program adult education celebrations shabbat passover high holidays other holidays lifecycle events get involved become a member volunteer contact calendar faqs member code of conduct privacy policy copyright by the city congregation for humanistic judaism