Rabbi Adam Chalom’s family is a microcosm of the Jewish world. His mother comes from an Ashkenazi East European Yiddish Socialist and Reform Judaism background and was born in the Midwest, while his father comes from the Brooklyn community of Syrian Sephardic Orthodox Jews. They found common ground in Humanistic Judaism, and Adam was raised as a Humanistic Jew at the Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit, Michigan, the founding congregation of Humanistic Judaism.

Rabbi Chalom earned a B.A. cum laude from Yale University in Judaic Studies, a Master’s Degree at the University of Michigan in Hebrew and Jewish Cultural Studies, Rabbinic ordination from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism (IISHJ), and his PhD at the University of Michigan in Near Eastern Studies. His dissertation was titled “Modern Midrash: Jewish Identity and Literary Creativity.”

Rabbi Adam Chalom joined Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in July 2004. Before then, he served for three years as co-Rabbi of the Birmingham Temple. Rabbi Chalom is also the North American Dean of the IISHJ, the leadership and rabbinical training institution of the world-wide movement of Secular Humanistic Judaism; the membership chair and secretary of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis; and serves on the editorial board of the quarterly journal Humanistic Judaism. In addition to several periodical articles, he has written adult and youth education curricula, taught leadership and rabbinic training seminars, and presented workshops and keynote addresses at several national conferences.

For Rabbi Chalom, Humanistic Judaism is not only a professional pursuit but also a personal passion he shares with his wife, A. J., who also grew up as a Humanistic Jew – they were even in the same youth group. Together they expect Humanistic Judaism and Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation to grow as more and more people connect with its powerful message of personal dignity, integrity, self-reliance, and mutual support.