The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan

The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan PDF Author: Mel Scult
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253010888
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
“An important and powerful work that speaks to Mordecai M. Kaplan’s position as perhaps the most significant Jewish thinker of the twentieth century.” (Deborah Dash Moore coeditor of Gender and Jewish History) Mordecai M. Kaplan, founder of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, is the only rabbi to have been excommunicated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment in America. Kaplan was indeed a radical, rejecting such fundamental Jewish beliefs as the concept of the chosen people and a supernatural God. Although he valued the Jewish community and was a committed Zionist, his primary concern was the spiritual fulfillment of the individual. Drawing on Kaplan’s 27-volume diary, Mel Scult describes the development of Kaplan’s radical theology in dialogue with the thinkers and writers who mattered to him most, from Spinoza to Emerson and from Ahad Ha-Am and Matthew Arnold to Felix Adler, John Dewey, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. This gracefully argued book, with its sensitive insights into the beliefs of a revolutionary Jewish thinker, makes a powerful contribution to modern Judaism and to contemporary American religious thought. “An interesting, stimulating, and well-done analysis of Kaplan’s life and thought. All students of contemporary Jewish life will benefit from reading this excellent study.” —Jewish Media Review “The book is highly readable―at times almost colloquial in its language and style―and is recommended for anybody with a familiarity with Kaplan but who wants to understand his thought within a broader context.” —AJL Reviews

The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan

The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan PDF Author: Mel Scult
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253010888
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
“An important and powerful work that speaks to Mordecai M. Kaplan’s position as perhaps the most significant Jewish thinker of the twentieth century.” (Deborah Dash Moore coeditor of Gender and Jewish History) Mordecai M. Kaplan, founder of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, is the only rabbi to have been excommunicated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment in America. Kaplan was indeed a radical, rejecting such fundamental Jewish beliefs as the concept of the chosen people and a supernatural God. Although he valued the Jewish community and was a committed Zionist, his primary concern was the spiritual fulfillment of the individual. Drawing on Kaplan’s 27-volume diary, Mel Scult describes the development of Kaplan’s radical theology in dialogue with the thinkers and writers who mattered to him most, from Spinoza to Emerson and from Ahad Ha-Am and Matthew Arnold to Felix Adler, John Dewey, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. This gracefully argued book, with its sensitive insights into the beliefs of a revolutionary Jewish thinker, makes a powerful contribution to modern Judaism and to contemporary American religious thought. “An interesting, stimulating, and well-done analysis of Kaplan’s life and thought. All students of contemporary Jewish life will benefit from reading this excellent study.” —Jewish Media Review “The book is highly readable―at times almost colloquial in its language and style―and is recommended for anybody with a familiarity with Kaplan but who wants to understand his thought within a broader context.” —AJL Reviews

The American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan

The American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan PDF Author: Emanuel Goldsmith
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814730523
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 479

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Book Description
The life, thought, work, and contemporaries of the renowned Judaicist (1881-1983) are explored in 23 contributed essays by authors who approach Kaplan from a broad range of perspectives. Includes a complete bibliography of Kaplan's writings, beginning with his first publication in 1907 and ending with his posthumous works. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan

The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan PDF Author: Mel Scult
Publisher: Modern Jewish Experience
ISBN: 9780253010759
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Mordecai M. Kaplan, founder of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, is the only rabbi to have been excommunicated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment in America. Kaplan was indeed a heretic, rejecting such fundamental Jewish beliefs as the concept of the chosen people and a supernatural God. Although he valued the Jewish community and was a committed Zionist, his primary concern was the spiritual fulfillment of the individual. Drawing on Kaplan's 27-volume diary, Mel Scult describes the development of Kaplan's radical theology in dialogue with the thinkers and writers who mattered to him most, from Spinoza to Emerson and from Ahad Ha-Am and Matthew Arnold to Felix Adler, John Dewey, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. This gracefully argued book, with its sensitive insights into the beliefs of a revolutionary Jewish thinker, makes a powerful contribution to modern Judaism and to contemporary American religious thought.

Communings of the Spirit, Volume II

Communings of the Spirit, Volume II PDF Author: Mel Scult
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814341624
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Selections from the diary of Mordecai Kaplan, founder of Reconstructionism in America, detailing a provocative firsthand account of Jewish life in America and of the mind of a very challenging thinker.

Communings of the Spirit, Volume III

Communings of the Spirit, Volume III PDF Author: Mel Scult
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814347681
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881–1983), founder of Reconstructionism and the rabbi who initiated the first Bat Mitzvah, also produced the longest Jewish diary on record. In twenty-seven volumes, written between 1913 and 1978, Kaplan shares not only his reaction to the great events of his time but also his very personal thoughts on religion and Jewish life. In Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan Volume III, 1942–1951, readers experience his horror at the persecution of the European Jews, as well as his joy in the founding of the State of Israel. Above all else, Kaplan was concerned with the survival and welfare of the Jewish people. And yet he also believed that the well-being of the Jewish people was tied to the safety and security of all people. In his own words, "Such is the mutuality of human life that none can be saved, unless all are saved." In the first volume of Communings of the Spirit, editor Mel Scult covers Kaplan’s early years as a rabbi, teacher of rabbis, and community leader. In the second volume, readers experience the economic problems of the 1930s and their shattering impact on the Jewish community. The third volume chronicles Kaplan’s spiritual and intellectual journey in the 1940s. With candor and vivid detail, Kaplan explores his evolving beliefs concerning a democratic Judaism; religious naturalism; and the conflicts, uncertainties, and self-doubts he faced in the first half of the twentieth century, including his excommunication by the ultra-Orthodox in 1945 for taking a more progressive approach to the liturgy. In his publications, Kaplan eliminated the time-honored declarations of Jewish chosen-ness as well as the outdated doctrines concerning the resurrection of the dead. He wanted a prayer book that Jews could feel reflected their beliefs and experiences; he believed that people must mean what they say when they pray. Kaplan was a man of contradictions, but because of that, all the more interesting and significant. Scholars of Judaica and rabbinical studies will value this honest look at the preeminent American Jewish thinker and rabbi of our times.

A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community

A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community PDF Author: Jeffrey S. Gurock
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231504492
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of the Reconstructionist movement, was the most influential and controversial radical Jewish thinker in the twentieth century. This book examines the intellectual influences that moved Kaplan from Orthodoxy and analyzes the combination of personal, strategic, and career reasons that kept Kaplan close to Orthodox Jews, posing a question crucial to the understanding of any religion: Can an established religious group learn from a heretic who has rejected its most fundamental beliefs?

Judaism as a Civilization

Judaism as a Civilization PDF Author: Mordecai M. Kaplan
Publisher: Jewish Publication Society
ISBN: 0827610505
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 661

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Book Description
A transformative work on modern Judaism

Judaism Faces the Twentieth Century

Judaism Faces the Twentieth Century PDF Author: Mel Scult
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814322802
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
Kaplan, who died in 1983 at the age of 102, arrived in America as a boy, and, as he grew, sought to find ways of making Judaism compatible with the American experience and the modern temper. He founded the Jewish Center and the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, establishing the prototypes for the modern expanded synagogue. This biography reappraises the significance of his contributions and offers an intimate look at the man and his thinking. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Dynamic Judaism

Dynamic Judaism PDF Author: Mordecai Menahem Kaplan
Publisher: Schocken
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description


Judaism as a Civilization

Judaism as a Civilization PDF Author: Mordecai Menahem Kaplan
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781022897113
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
First published in 1934, Mordecai Kaplan's groundbreaking study of Judaism as a civilization remains a landmark work of Jewish thought. Kaplan argues that Judaism is not just a religion, but a comprehensive civilization that encompasses everything from language and literature to art and social organization. He lays out a program for the reconstruction of American-Jewish life that is still relevant today, and his ideas have had a profound influence on Jewish thought and practice in the United States. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.