THE KAPLAN CENTER MOURNS THE TRAGIC AND BRUTAL DEATHS OF THE HOSTAGES. OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AS WE PRAY FOR A SPEEDY END TO THE VIOLENCE IN THE HOLY LAND.
Throughout this website we offer many resources about Mordecai Kaplan’s influential writings and philosophy and how Kaplan’s legacy continues to be woven through contemporary thought and practice.
Tuesday, September 17
7pm Eastern Daylight Time
Revaluating the Unetanah Tokef:
What Kind of Tzedaka Softens the Harsh Degree?
with author Amy Schiller and Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
What’s New ? מה חדש
It is often observed that for Mordecai Kaplan democracy was the religion of America.
The Kaplan Center appreciates our grant from A More Perfect Union: Jewish Partnership for Democracy. This grant allows us to embark on a “religious” journey from this February through next October. Each month we will select and distribute to our friends and partners a passage from Mordecai Kaplan or one of his students and collaborators.
This month features an excerpt from Kaplan’s The New Haggadah For the Pesach Seder
For our forefathers, Pharoah was the symbol of all those tyrants who ever acted as though they were gods, and whose will had to be obeyed without question, on penalty of torture or death. And that is why Pesach means more than that first emancipation the Israelites won from Pharaoh when they left Egypt. It means the emancipation the serfs in the Middle Ages won from their overlords; the freedom the slaves won from their masters; the freedom the common people of countries won, when their kings were overthrown; it means the guarantee of the sacred rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The first emancipation was thus only a foreshadowing of all the emancipations that were to follow, and which will yet follow in the days to come.
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Webinars and More
Explore our upcoming webinars for 5875 (2024-25)
Revaluating the Unetanah Tokef:
What Kind of Tzedaka Softens the Harsh Degree? with author Amy Schiller and Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Tuesday, September 17
7pm Eastern Daylight Time
Tribute Honoring Mel Scult’s 90th birthday
Sunday, December 8, 2024
1pm Eastern Standard Time
Kaplanian Scholarship
Looking to deepen your knowledge of Mordecai Kaplan’s life and philosophy?
- Meet a great companion guide in the form of Mel Scult’s annotated bibliography keep on home page
- Read scholarly articles about Kaplan
- Watch video reminiscences about Kaplan’s life
- Learn about Kaplan on One Foot: Mel Scult’s Eight Core Principles of Kaplan’s Philosophy
- Watch Mel Scult’s talk about Kaplan’s Understanding of Naturalistic Prayer
- Read Dr. Jeffrey Schein’s article on democracy, “Memory on Trial”
Kaplanian Voices
Our Kaplanian voices series seeks to sensitize us to the unique ways many of us experience the very notion of Peoplehood in 2023. Below are excerpts from conversation between Rabbis Jeffrey Eisenstat, founding director of our movement’s Camp Havaya, and former camp counselors about their initial exposures to the philosophies of Mordecai Kaplan a decade ago and its present meaning to them as young adult Jews in their thirties.
Visit the Ira Eisenstein portal where you will find….
- Introductions by Rabbi Richard Hirsh to Ira Eisenstein’s books Creative Judaism and What We Mean by Religion with digital copies of those currently out-of-print volumes now available on our website
- Explore the full set of resources related to teaching Mordecai Kaplan through Ira Eisenstein’s writings with these resources
- Reflections about Ira Eisenstein as theologian and wise leader by Rabbis Dennis Sasso and Jeffrey Schein
- A recording of Rabbi Eisenstein’s contributions that was hosted by the SAJ:Judaism that Stands For All as part of its centenary celebration