Jewish Humanism leader killed in car crash
The American leader of a worldwide Jewish movement that viewed the religion as a culture rather than a faith has died in a car accident.
Rabbi Sherwin Wine, 79, who founded the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism in suburban Detroit in 1963, was killed on Saturday in Essaouira, Morocco, the Society for Humanistic Judaism's website said.
He and his partner, Richard McMains, were on holiday and were returning from dinner when their taxi was hit by another driver. The cab driver was also killed, and McMains remained in hospital in stable condition, the website said.
Wine, who lived in Birmingham, Michigan, founded The Birmingham Temple in 1963 and helped establish the Society for Humanistic Judaism in 1969. He retired in 2003.
He built a movement that began with eight Detroit-area families into a worldwide one with an estimated 40,000 members.
The American Humanist Association selected him humanist of the year for 2003.
Wine's books include 'Humanistic Judaism', 'Judaism Beyond God' and 'Staying Sane in a Crazy World'.
