Judaism as a civilization (Mordecai Kaplan and Reconstructionism)

Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983), a rabbi and thinker of Lithuanian origin established in the United States and long a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, is the founder of Reconstructionism, the only major Jewish religious movement born on American soil. In his masterwork, Judaism as a Civilization (1934), he proposed conceiving Judaism not as a revealed religion but as an "evolving religious civilization," encompassing language, History, culture, arts, and customs as much as beliefs. Influenced by American sociology and pragmatism, Kaplan adopted a naturalistic theology, rejecting the idea of a supernatural God intervening in History and reinterpreting the concepts of election and revelation. He advocated maintaining traditional practices for their communal and identitary value, while adapting them to modernity, and conceived of the synagogue as a comprehensive community center. His influence extended far beyond the Reconstructionist movement he established, marking all of American liberal Judaism and the reflection on Jewish identity outside the theistic framework.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Jewish Virtual Library ↗