Mordecai Kaplan
Founder of Reconstructionist Judaism and architect of modern Jewish thought.
Mordecai Menahem Kaplan was an American rabbi and theologian who founded the Reconstructionist movement of Judaism.[1] Kaplan's work focused on adapting Judaism to modern society by stressing its cultural and historical character.[1] Mordecai Menahem Kaplan's birth occurred on June 11, 1881, and his death on November 8, 1983, in New York City at age 102.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Religion
- Judaism
- Organization
- Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Society for the Advancement of Judaism
- Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
- Birth name
- Mottel Kaplan
- Born
- 11 June 1881
- Died
- 8 November 1983
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Burial place
- Glendale, New York, U.S.
- Denomination
- Orthodox Judaism
- Conservative Judaism
- Reconstructionist Judaism
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
He also studied at City College of New York and Columbia University, earning a master's degree and doctorate.[3] He organized the Jewish Center in New York around 1916–1918, the first such community organization in the United States.[4] He won a $10,000 prize in 1929 for his essay on how Judaism could adjust to modern life.[5] On June 11, 1881, in Sventiany (within the Russian Empire), Haya and Rabbi Israel Kaplan had a son they named Mottel Kaplan, later known as Mordecai Menahem Kaplan.[6]
At nine years old, in 1889, Kaplan was relocated to New York.[6] From 1909 until his retirement in 1963, Kaplan served as the principal of the teachers' institute at JTSA.[7] The initial public bat mitzvah ceremony in the United States was conducted by Kaplan for his daughter Judith on March 18, 1922.[8]
What the cited sources add
Silver notes that Kaplan wrote in his journal four days later, calling the event a "tragicomedy" and accusing the rabbis of using "Nazi methods".[9] That same source explains that Mordecai Kaplan intended bat mitzvah to give females equal standing with males.[8] The eJewishPhilanthropy article by Brown states that Julius Rosenwald offered the $10,000 prize in 1929 and that Kaplan's winning book became "the most influential Jewish book of its time".[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Mordecai Kaplan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scult, "Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1913-1934", Wayne State University Press, May 2002, p. 45–55; ; Waggoner, "RABBI MORDECAI KAPLAN DIES; LEADER OF RECONSTRUCTIONISTS", The New York Times, 9 November 1983; "Mordecai Menahem Kaplan"; Waggoner, "RABBI MORDECAI KAPLAN DIES; LEADER OF RECONSTRUCTIONISTS", The New York Times, 9 November 1983 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mordecai Kaplan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scult, "Communings of the Spirit, Volume III: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1942-1951", Wayne State University Press, October 2020; Waggoner, "RABBI MORDECAI KAPLAN DIES; LEADER OF RECONSTRUCTIONISTS", The New York Times, 9 November 1983; Waggoner, "RABBI MORDECAI KAPLAN DIES; LEADER OF RECONSTRUCTIONISTS", The New York Times, 9 November 1983 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mordecai Kaplan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scult, "Communings of the Spirit, Volume III: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1942-1951", Wayne State University Press, October 2020; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1913-1934", Wayne State University Press, May 2002, p. 45–55 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mordecai Kaplan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit, Volume III: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1942-1951", Wayne State University Press, October 2020; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1913-1934", Wayne State University Press, May 2002, p. 45–55; "Mordecai Menahem Kaplan" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Brown, "And Then There Were 5", eJewishPhilanthropy, 2008-01-30. facts only, no text reused. ejewishphilanthropy.com
- Wikipedia, "Mordecai Kaplan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit, Volume III: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1942-1951", Wayne State University Press, October 2020; "Mordecai Menahem Kaplan"; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1913-1934", Wayne State University Press, May 2002, p. 45–55; Kraut, "Review of A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community: Mordecai M. Kaplan, Orthodoxy, and American Judaism", American Jewish History, 1998, p. 357–363; ; Waggoner, "RABBI MORDECAI KAPLAN DIES; LEADER OF RECONSTRUCTIONISTS", The New Yo en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mordecai Kaplan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scult, "Communings of the Spirit, Volume III: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1942-1951", Wayne State University Press, October 2020; "Mordecai Menahem Kaplan"; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1913-1934", Wayne State University Press, May 2002, p. 45–55; ; Waggoner, "RABBI MORDECAI KAPLAN DIES; LEADER OF RECONSTRUCTIONISTS", The New York Times, 9 November 1983; Scult, "Communings of the Spirit, Volume III: The Journals of Mordecai M. Kaplan, 1942-1951", Wayne State University Press, October 2020 en.wikipedia.org
- "The First American Bat Mitvah", Jewishvirtuallibrary.org, 1922-03-18. facts only, no text reused. jewishvirtuallibrary.org
- Silver, "A Look Back at a Different Book Burning", The Forward, 3 June 2005. facts only, no text reused. forward.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mordecai Kaplan (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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