Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/107047
'HUMANGELIZING' Rabbi Adam Chalom gladly signs copies of Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine's A Provocative People: A Secular History of the Jews for audience members who purchased it after he completed his lecture at The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee Jan. 17. All photos by Arielle Scherr RABBI ADAM CHALOM CARRIES ON THE LEGACY OF A MAN WHO HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON HIS OWN LIFE AND WORK By Tyler Whitson Staff Writer To say Rabbi Adam Chalom, dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, has been incredibly busy the past several years is an understatement. Not only is he a major leader for Humanistic Judaism, but he is also an academic scholar; author and lecturer; and the rabbi for the Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in Chicago. Chalom nonetheless marked off days on his crowded calendar for a trip to Sarasota Jan. 17-20, to lead traditional Jewish Shabbat and weekend services and to offer a series of ed- ucational lectures for the Sarasota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism. With a doctorate in Near Eastern Studies and a master's degree in Hebrew and Jewish Cultural Studies — both from the University of Michigan — as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Judaic Studies from Yale University, Chalom delivered talks on a variety of topics over the long weekend. They ranged from Jewish history based on archaeology and contemporary analysis to insights into the present realities of Jewish people and their cultures all over the world to the philosophical underpinnings and practical daily applications of Humanistic Judaism.