Mordecai Kaplan’s Understanding of Holiness

Waldemar Szczerbiński

Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2946-7352


Abstract

The Reconstructionist category of holiness, reflecting the essence of God in traditional Juda­ism, is a challenge both to contemporary Jewish thought and to theological thought in general. This paper attempts to explain why and how Mordecai Kaplan - the forerunner of the most liberal trend in Judaism - embarked on a reconstruction of the biblical concept of holiness and demonstrated the con­sequences of his transformations. First, Kaplan’s concept of holiness is discussed, followed by his de­scription of the notion of “sancta” as advanced by the Reconstructionists. Next, Kaplan’s understanding of holiness, which denotes the fullness of humanity rather than the essence of the personal God, as in traditional Judaism, has been presented. Thus, according to Kaplan, holiness is an anthropological and not a theological category because he understood it as a “transcendental validity” on the path to attain human self-fulfillment in this world. From the perspective of tradition, the Reconstructionist concept of holiness results in Judaism’s desacralization, which can primarily be seen in the desacralization of God, the Torah, the Chosen People, and the Sabbath. Even allowing for Judaism’s diversity of views and posi­tions, Kaplan’s concept of holiness is truly revolutionary in modern Jewish thought.

Keywords:

Holiness, God, human life, Judaism, Mordecai M. Kaplan, Jewish Reconstructionist

Cohen, J. – Scult, R. – Jospe, R., “Kaplan Mordecai,” Encyclopedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Macmillan 1971) X, 751–753.

Eisenstein, I., “Mordecai M. Kaplan,” Great Jewish Thinkers of the Twentieth Century (ed. S. Noveck; Clinton, TN: The B’rith Department of Adult Jewish Education 1963) 253–279.

Fisiak, J. – Adamiak-Sałaciak, A. (eds.), Nowy słownik Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej angielsko-polski (New York: Kosciuszko Foundation 2008) (= NSFK).

Goldsmith, E.S., “Kaplan and Henry Nelson Wieman,” The American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan (eds. E.S. Goldsmith – M. Scult – R.M. Seltzer; New York – London: New York University Press 1990) 197–220.

Hertzberg, A., “Introduction to the 1981 Edition,” M. Kaplan, Judaism as a Civilization (Philadelphia, PA – New York: The Jewish Publication Society of America and Reconstructionist Press 1981) XIX–XXXV.

Jankowski, A., “Biblijne pojęcie świętości człowieka,” Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny 37/2 (1984) 109–118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21906/rbl.1264. (Crossref)

Jelonek, T., Biblijne pojęcie sacrum (Kraków: WAM 2008).

Kaplan, M.M., Judaism in Transition (New York: Behrman House 1936).

Kaplan, M.M., “The Way I Have Come,” Mordecai M. Kaplan. An Evaluation (eds. I. Eisenstein – E. Kohn; New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1952) 283–321.

Kaplan, M.M., Judaism without Supernaturalism (New York: Reconstructionist Press 1958).

Kaplan, M.M., The Greater Judaism in Making (New York: Reconstructionist Press 1960).

Kaplan, M.M., The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion (New York: Reconstructionist Press 1962).

Kaplan, M.M., The Purpose and Meaning of Jewish Existence (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America 1964).

Kaplan, M.M., The Future of the American Jew (New York: Reconstructionist Press 1967).

Kaplan, M.M., Questions Jews Ask. Reconstructionist Answer (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1972) 162–163.

Kaplan, M.M., The Religion of Ethical Nationhood (New York: Macmillan 1972).

Kaplan, M.M., Judaism as a Civilization. Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life (Philadelphia, PA – New York: Jewish Publication Society of America – Reconstructionist Press 1981).

Kepnes, S., “Holiness: The Unique Form of Jewish Spirituality,” https://www.jewishideas.org/article/holiness-unique-form-jewish-spirituality (access 21.11.2020).

Kohler, K., “Holiness,” Jewish Encyclopedia (New York: Funk & Wagnalls 1906) 439–442.

Krawczyk, R., “Biblijna koncepcja świętości,” Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny 67/4 (2014) 345–362. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21906/rbl.51 . (Crossref)

Lazaroff, A., “Kaplan and John Dewey,” The American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan (eds. E.S. Goldsmith – M. Scult – R.M. Seltzer; New York, London: New York University Press 1990) 173–196.

Noveck, S., “Kaplan and Milton Steinberg: A Disciple’s Agreements and Disagreements,”The American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan (eds. E.S. Goldsmith – M. Scult – R.M. Seltzer; New York – London: New York University Press 1990) 140–170.

Saldarini, A.J., “Świętość,” Encyklopedia biblijna (ed. P.J. Achtemeier; Warszawa: Vocatio 1999) 1227.

Scult, M., “Mordecai M. Kaplan: His Life,” Dynamic Judaism. The Essential Writings of Mordecai

M. Kaplan (eds. E. Goldsmith – M. Scult; New York: Fordham University Press 1991) 3–13.

Szczerbiński, W., Postulat nie-osobowego Boga. Rekonstrukcjonizm wyzwaniem dla teizmu żydowskiego (Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza 2007).

Szczerbiński, W., Rekonstrukcjonistyczna desakralizacja judaizmu (Poznań: Wydział Teologiczny. Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu 2021).

Weisberg, H.C., “Mordecai M. Kaplan’s Theory of Religion,” Mordecai M. Kaplan. An Evaluation (eds. I. Eisenstein – E. Kohn; New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1952) 155–192.

Zając, E., “Judaizm jako religia uświęcająca czas,” Ethos 25/3 (2012) 46–60.

Download

Published
2022-06-10


Szczerbiński, W. (2022). Mordecai Kaplan’s Understanding of Holiness. Verbum Vitae, 40(2), 387–406. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.13399

Waldemar Szczerbiński  szczer@amu.edu.pl
Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań

Rev. Waldemar Szczerbiński, a priest of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, Associate Professor of the Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań, Institute of European Culture. The scope of his courses includes the history of philosophy, the philosophy of God, metaphysics, Jewish studies, Judaism and Christian-Jewish dialogue. In 1999–2006, he was a secretary of the Council of the Polish Episcopate Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and the Commission for Dialogue with Judaism. Author of A.J. Heschel’s Philosophy of Man (2000, in Polish); The Postulate of the Non-Personal God. Reconstructionism as a Challenge to Jewish Theism (2007, in Polish) and Reconstructionist Desacralization of Judaism (2021, in Polish).

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2946-7352



License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The author(s) grant (s) to the Licensee a non-exclusive and royalty-free license in accordance with the provisions of the Appendix: LICENSE TO USE THE WORK