Presented by Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson
American Jewish University Goldstine Distinguished Scholar

Mordecai Kaplan rocked the Jewish world in 1934 with his brilliant, revolutionary Judaism as a Civilization, a comprehensive analysis of what ailed American Jewish life and a series of prescriptions to fix it. Embracing every aspect of Jewish life: faith, ritual, philosophy, language, peoplehood, ethics, there were no topics his great mind didn’t confront. A fearless visionary, his bold proposals created a generational agenda for change, revision, innovation, all for the sake of translating Jewish insight into the idiom and science of modernity.

It was his expectation that Jews of all stripes would flock to this progressive reconstruction, each in their own way. What happened along the way? How did he succeed in changing American Jewish life forever? And how did his insights miss important emotional, religious, and social realities that limited the spread of his ideas?

Join us to explore the enduring legacy of Mordecai Kaplan and discover how his ideas continue to shape Jewish life today.

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