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Kaplan Unbound

JL;DR SUMMARY Jenna Weissman Joselit provides a comprehensive and critical look at Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, in her new biography, "Kaplan Unbound." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish ThoughtJewish Theological SeminaryAbraham Joshua HeschelMordecai KaplanKol NidreSpinozaYale University PressReconstructionismJudaism As A CivilizationJewish Culture Wars

Places mentioned

New Haven, Connecticut, United States
"Sixteen years ago in these pages, Daniel Landes panned Arthur Greens Radical Judaism (Hidden Master, Fall 2010)"
New York, United States
"Yale University Press 320 pp., $32.50"
California, United States
"Mordecai Kaplan, circa 1950. (Courtesy of the American Jewish University.)"
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Cairo Item ID 78550
Cairo Source ID 11
Retrieved 2026-03-26 05:41:56 UTC
Curated 2026-03-26 08:31:07 UTC