The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first ordained Rabbi, Michael Luckens. The inspirational teaching of Rabbi Mordecai Kapan featured quite prominently in the celebration. In simple terms one must say, no Mordecai Kaplan, no Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
Yet it is equally true that without Rabbi Ira Eisenstein our Rabbinical College, a thriving Reconstructionist movement, and The Kaplan Center would have been just as unlikely. Kaplan’s son-in-law, Rabbi Ira Eisenstein, was his foremost interpreter and popularizer. He translated dozens of Reconstructionist ideas into institutional realities, always adding depth and nuance in the process of translation.
The Kaplan Center is delighted to be launching the Ira Eisenstein portal on our website. It includes:
- 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 soon to be made available on our website;
- A Book Club next year around the above volumes, led by Harriet Feiner and Rabbi Lee Friedlander;
- Reflections about Ira Eisenstein as theologian and wise leader by Rabbis Dennis Sasso and Jeffrey Schein;
-Dr. Jeffrey Schein
- A recording of reflections on Rabbi Eisenstein’s contributions that the SAJ (now known as Judaism That Stands for All) hosted as part of its centenary celebration.
Reminisce with Ira & Judith
Rabbi Ira Eisenstein and Dr. Judith Eisenstein spoke to congregant Ruby Kohn, (daughter of Eugene Kohn, one of Kaplan’s students): Looking back at their twelve years of living in the creative and vibrant Jewish community of Woodstock, New York; Judith’s retelling of how and why she became North American Jewry’s first Bat Mitzvah; Ira providing…
Creative Judaism
For those wanting to grasp “what all the excitement was about” when Judaism As A Civilization appeared, Creative Judaism was a quick and easy way into the discussion.
What We Mean by Religion
What We Mean By Religion focuses less on God as “the Power that makes for salvation…” than on a humanistic extraction of key ideas from each of the Jewish holidays.
Lessons I Learned From My Teacher
From Ira, I learned that Judaism is not an abstract idea, that religion does not exist in a vacuum, that religion
is as religion does. Judaism begins with the Jewish people; religion is a human, social reality, one in which “Belonging precedes Believing” If we want to help Jews love and practice their heritage, we must first make them feel at home in the tradition and community and feel that they have a stake in it.
Jeffrey Schein’s Ira Reminiscence
In this piece, Jeffrey remembers a moment in which Ira helped him gain perspective on criticisms of his student rabbinate: “Ira and I talked at great length. Near the end of the conversation, Ira got a glint in his eye and a wry smile formed as he said:
From Synagogue to Movement: Remembering Rabbi Ira Eisenstein
A recording of reflections on Rabbi Eisenstein’s contributions that the SAJ (now known as Judaism That Stands for All) hosted as part of its centenary celebration.