About Kaplan
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by Rabbi Toba Spitzer In The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion (published in 1937), in the chapter on Chanukah, Mordecai Kaplan reflected on Jewish survival in the face of competing cultures. He wrote: “Paradoxical as it may seem, if a nation wishes to survive, it must not make survival itself its supreme objective,…
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Joseph Reimer In my recent book, Making Shabbat, I tell the story of the Schoolmans, founders of Cejwin Camp. There were Jewish camps before Cejwin, but the Schoolmans created the first intentional Jewish camp: a space for campers and staff to actively engage their Judaism. The Schoolmans were disciples of Mordechai Kaplan. Intentional Jewish camping…
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Mel discusses his book The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan in a podcast.
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On this page you will find a treasure of reminiscences by those who knew Kaplan directly as a person- his students, family members, and more. Jack Wolofsky Jack Wolofsky, co-founder of the Kaplan Center, shares memories of and reflections about Kaplan. Mitchell Rothman Rabbi Michael Cohen speaks with Mitchell Rothman, life-long Kaplan student and devotee…
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An Invitation to Future Kaplanian Scholarship by Dr. Vered Sakal. For many years, most of the scholars who wrote about Kaplan were people who knew him personally. During the past few decades, however, more scholars are joining the conversation about Kaplan’s work…Being one of those “second generation” Kaplan scholars, I find this transition – from…
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Soon the large canon of scholarship about Mordecai Kaplan will be expanded. Jenna Weissman Joselit, the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of History at George Washington University. She is currently at work on a biography of Mordecai M. Kaplan for the Jewish Lives series of Yale University Press. Our Kaplan Center…
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