Reconstructionist Judaism Mordechai Kaplan
Shalom.
This video is about Reconstructionism in Judaism and Mordechai Kaplan, its founder. Kaplan was born in Lithuania and he came in the United States at the age of nine. He was raised in an Orthodox home but began to grapple with the radical conceptions of the Bible of Judaism. He was ordained by a miyama matter, the Jewish Theological Seminary School, a Conservative Branch of Judaism. In the 1909, Solomon Schechter was the President of JTS, invited him to become Dean of the Jewish Institute. And so, he taught there for over 50 years influencing many, many top leaders and Jewish educators for generations.
In 1922, he founded the exciting for the events of Judaism, the pledge of synagogue, which was now the Reconstructionist movement in Manhattan. And, in 1935, he has created the first Bat Mitzvah for his daughter Judith. And, of course, Bat Mitzvah now is so generous but he was the head of the first one in 1935. He also developed the idea of havurots, small Jewish groups that get together for study and observance of life cycle events. And this idea later evolved into their Havurah movement. He also, conceived that everything should happen under the walls of the synagogue, and created what is today, became the JCC movement. Some synagogues, actually builds some importance of gems and columns of Jewish center of various times, especially in the East Coast.
During his lifetime, he did not, especially, want to develop his own movement but he saw that his ideas really work not that consistent with the conservative movement, then his son-in-law and other followers developed what is today the growing Reconstructionist movement.
He wrote many books. In fact, my father Alava Shalom one of his proudest books was a signed copy by Mordechai Kaplan of Judaism as a Civilization. As I grow up with the special Passover havurots Kaplan wrote, that was used during a Passover. So, all of them are his basic ideas. He called Judaism an evolving religious civilization. So, think about what a civilization is, it is, therefore, Judaism is, and example of, and it encompasses religion, language, history, social organizations, standard of conduct and spiritual ethical ideas. There was an also developed a sign and he has insisted that the creative survival of the Jewish people with their aspira, is possible and desirable. He held that Jewish civilization expresses its genius best and clarifying purposes and values of human excitants, resting with God, although he considered God in non-personal terms and in the rituals of homes, synagogue and community.
Because Judaism is a civilization, he said, the secular elements of the culture are essential to Jewish spirituality, curving the tendency of religion towards originality and uniformity. He also maintained that Judaism should be considered from a practical historical point of view rather that a metaphysical, revelation one. The focus of the content of Jewish life is the Jewish people. Its needs rather than rebuild texts. His most controversial ideas, he surrendered on tenable; the concept of the personal God, which remains in human history knows the mind of each individual. He believed, instead of there darken of Godliness that inside of each human being is a spirit that serves as a one’s moral guide. His natural religious naturalism that relies on super natural events challenges the belief in the historical revelation of theologicals and it is related to the supernatural idea of God.
So, here is basically, Kaplan’s major idea of God. He said, God is their power in the universe in which men must rely for the achievement of his destiny. In addition, whatever display, one has a moral responsibility; they are manifesting the presence of God, noted as Predicate Theology. Since, for Kaplan, God is not a personal commander, means both are then folk ways of the Jewish people. He also said, the idea of chosen is then, does not make any sense. Without a personal God, obviously, Jews could have not been chosen by anyone. And, he thought he was here again for Jews to serve the God who send them out from among the nations. So, consequently, when our Reconstructionist Jew has an idea to the Torah instead of saying the traditional blessing, a share by (foreign language), which chooses from among the nations, they say, I share a (foreign language).
As a side note, my synagogue currently is one of the—maybe, only one or one of the few in the world that is a joint Reconstructionist and Conservative affiliated. History is—there is one of the originally for Reconstruction of synagogues, that affiliated also to conservative movement in a merge with the conservative synagogue. And so, we still have people, almost every Sabbath who said that Reconstruction is Bracha The concept of a non personal God advanced by Kaplan and also concludes the concept of miracles and the suspension of natural law.
So then, what is the meaning of prayer? In Kaplan’s philosophy, prayer takes out a new meaning. He may change people to operate to a process. The people would operate on a process. The can call up to their attention to the process, for Kaplan, it is not important if your prayer was heard. What is significant is a person voicing his yearnings for the achievements of all the goals, then in their totality, spell God. Thus, for Kaplan, once you not expect, once your prayers along the natural events in the world. Prayer is an incentive program for actions and a chance to express ones own issues.
So, of course, Kaplan hugely influenced American Jewish life, most Jews see Judaism, even when they are quite of blend in the way Kaplan did in terms of the civilization with folk raising customs. Outside the orthodoxy, most use and not see themselves bound by traditional commandments. Of course, what was most controversial was saying that he did not believe in a personal God, and he did not believe in the darken of choosiness. And today, there are many rabbinical students out there. The Reconstructionist as a behavioral college should do believe in a personal God. And so, some of these ideas have been maintained and heavily influential. There is a lot of vocabulary of his that is worth situating to me, seem Jewish thought among Jews that do not even think, otherwise, the (foreign English), they would say, “I would not believe in that but they uses the language of civilization and traditions, and a lot of ways he did.
And so, he have his brilliant mind who really Reconstructed Judaism. There are some aspects his philosophy that are very, very current and popular and heavily influential. There are others that certainly—were so controversial and most Jews are rejected because most Jews do believe in a personal God.
Anyway, a little bit about Mordechai Kaplan and Reconstructionism.
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