Sheridan
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In this edition of the Contemporary Talmud Page, we begin with an affirmation of Kaplan that “Torah is lifelong moral education.” But is this always true? How might the idea of shlemut (spiritual wholeness), the inward Jewish peoplehood character of tikkun olam, and an appreciation of Shabbat challenge Kaplan’s own assertion that we must always be engaged…
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with Yovel recipients Rabbis Lee Friedlander and Arnold Rachlis May 4, 2025 Join us to hear eminent Rabbis who have attained Yovel status as they reflect on the ongoing and evolving threads of Kaplanian thought that have informed their careers. Rabbi Lee Friedlander is a native Philadelphian who was raised by secular Jewish parents and…
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Mel Scult, professor, scholar, husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, was born May 28, 1934 in Paterson, New Jersey. It is quite amazing that Mordecai Kaplan’s Judaism as a Civilization appeared on that same day. Scult’s family were members of a Conservative synagogue, where as a teen, he participated in services and in synagogue activities,…
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Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983) American rabbi and founder of Reconstructionism was born in Sventzian, Lithuania, the son of Rabbi Israel Kaplan and Chaya Nehama Kaplan. His father was a prominent Talmudic scholar who had received rabbinic ordination in Lithuania from the most outstanding rabbis of the day. The family…
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with Rabbis Michael Cohen and Fred Scherlinder DobbFebruary 9, 2025 Environmental activism from the personal to the communal: two extraordinary voices speak about Kaplan, their own tikkun olam, and how awareness of the fragility of the earth has shaped their actions, careers and voices. Rabbi Michael Cohen is a faculty member of the Arava Institute…
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This year is a very special one. We are celebrating both the 90th anniversary of the publication of Judaism as a Civilization and the 90th birth year of Mel Scult, Kaplan’s biographer. An amazing tidbit: the NYTimes announcement of the publication of this seminal volume came out within days of Mel’s birthdate!! Both of these…
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The notion of living in two civilizations is rapidly being eclipsed in the 21st century by the notion of living in multiple civilizations, among them digital, global, multi-cultural, and multi-gender orientations. From Earl Schwartz Historical and Cultural PerspectivesKwame Anthony Appiah’s work on identity, The Ethics of Identity, (in which he references Kaplan) is a very…
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with author Amy Schiller and Rabbi Mordechai Liebling September 17, 2024 The High Holidays are a time associated with reflection, repentance, and renewal. The Unetanah Tokef prayer, recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur morning, suggests that one of the ways to improve our return to community in the reality of our mistakes is through…
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Sponsored by the Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood in cooperation with Camp Havaya and Reconstructing Judaism About the Prize Mel Scult is the premiere biographer of Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. He is beyond doubt the world’s expert on the life and writings of Mordecai Kaplan. We invited teens, B Mitzvah age through 12th grade…
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with Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D.Sunday, June 9, 2024 Please join us as we thank Rabbi Jeffrey Schein for his work as Executive Director of The Mordecai Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood, introduce our new Executive Director, Rabbi Elisheva Sachs Salamo, and learn from Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Director of the Center for Jewish Ethics and Associate…