Exploring 100 Years of Social Justice in American Judaism and Mordecai Kaplan’s Thinking | A Shabbat with Scholar-in Residence Dr. Eric Caplan

Multi-Access Tish: The Jewish Roots of Social Justice Activism

April 2 at 9 AM ET

All are welcome to join in person at SAJ or on Zoom.

Zoom Meeting ID: 964-139-778

In this tish, Dr. Eric Caplan will guide us on an exploration of writings of Jewish thinkers and social activists of the last 100 years who deeply engage with Jewish text, ritual or historical experience to show that there exists a Jewish imperative to be involved in the pressing social issues of our time.

Scholar-In-Residence D’var Torah | Thinking Big: Mordecai M Kaplan as Social Justice Thinker and Advocate

April 2 at Approximately 11:10 AM ET

All are welcome in person at SAJ, or on Zoom.

Zoom Info – Meeting ID: 793 399 790 Passcode: 183654

Mordecai Kaplan argued consistently that the main goal of Judaism was to “render [the Jew] allergic to violence, corruption, exploitation of every kind” and that Jews needed to participate, “in cooperation with other communities, in the struggle against poverty, disease, ignorance, oppression and war.”  In this session, we will explore Kaplan’s vision for how Jewish communities can contribute to the struggle for a more just society and examine his response to specific social challenges.

Post-Kiddush Teaching | Jewish Activist Responses to War

April 2 at Approximately 12:30 PM ET

All are welcome in person at SAJ

A look at how Jewish intellectuals of the 20th century responded to the wars of their time.

Eric Caplan is an associate professor of contemporary Judaism and Jewish education at McGill University. He is currently assembling an anthology of Jewish social activist thought (1830-2021) and preparing for publication the final volume of excerpts from the diaries of Mordecai Kaplan, 1951-1978. Eric’s book, From Ideology to Liturgy: Reconstructionist Worship and American Liberal Judaism (Hebrew Union College Press, 2002), is being reissued with an extensive new preface in 2022. He is co-director, with Jeffrey Schein, of the Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood which—through conferences, on-line seminars and an ever-expanding website (https://kaplancenter.org)—works to stimulate conversation about the Jewish issues that were of core concern to Kaplan.