Note new time, now 30 minutes earlier.
In this six week course, Rabbi Stone will discuss the life, theology, and impact on the Jewish community of Mordecai Kaplan, founder of Reconstructionist Judaism and one of the 20th century’s most prominent Jewish thinkers.
Born in tsarist Russia, he emigrated to the United States at age 8 and attended both Columbia University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. His first major book, Judaism as a Civilization, contained a detailed criticism of existing Jewish movements and a call for the “reconstruction” of Jewish life.
In 1968, his growing movement opened the Reconstructionist Rabbinic College in Philadelphia as a step toward “an evolving religious civilization.” Kaplan is a strong advocate of cultural and religious pluralism, and he maintains that American Jews should participate fully and creatively in both Jewish and American civilizations.
Rabbi Stone will engage participants in a review of his work and involved discussions of his impact. The class is free but requires registration.
