Mordecai Kaplan

and internal Jewish debate over Kol Nidre has never stopped.

In fact, in 1927, Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, lobbied successfully to have the movement replace the text of Kol Nidre with Psalm 130 in the Machzor.

But now it's back.

Folks have always loved it, found ways to say it despite threats from within and without.

So to be a Jew is to be part of two civilizations.

Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan wrote close to a century ago as he tried to make sense of what it meant to be an observant Jew in a non-Jewish country like America.

To be Jewish is to live on two calendars, the lunar calendar for Jewish holidays and yard sites and the Gregorian calendar for national holidays and buying airplane tickets.

In my case, this weekend, it is to navigate Little League games on days one and two of Rosh Hashanah.

Breville had a PhD.

they couldn't overcome was Mordechai Kaplan.

See, Mordechai Kaplan, because of him, there's a hundred year history of conservative orthodox.

It's only because of him.

You know who Mordechai Kaplan was? Mordechai Kaplan's father was a field captain.

Yaakov Yosef, R.J.J., brought him to America to be part of debate in that he organized in America.

His father was a golem, a Talmud Chacham, a Yerushalayim, a Mordechai Kaplan, went to Yeshivas, and then he went to the seminary.

And then he was assistant rabbi to Ramaz in KJ, the English-speaking rabbi.

And I'm like, what? You

know? And then I didn't realize until much later, he was quoting Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, you know? And so it's like, the different levels of Jewish nerding out here, but Judaism is a religion and not a religion.

Right.

Oh, absolutely.

So one of the things that's really important to know, and that a lot of my colleagues are talking about right now, including at Hurtman, is that there was a time at which Jews decided that Slowly, it was a process, and then it became a consensus, sort of, in America to define Judaism as a religion like all other religions.

This is why Kaplan was necessary for some of us, because it's Kaplan who used the word peoplehood, right? Right? But before Kaplan, it was decided that it was in the best interests of Jews in America to define ourselves as a religion like other religions.

Why? Why would we do that? Why would we say we're a religion just like other religions? For the protection of the First Amendment.

Right.

We're kind of trapped on the far edges.

All right, Helene.

Yeah, I just wanted to add, number one, I pretty much agree with Kaplan's definition of a Jew.

Secondly, I just want to- Wait, who, Kaplan? Yes.