I am not at all a fan of "Reconstructionist Judaism" and its founder Mordecai Kaplan. But he was a foe of Reform Judaism as well, and a hundred years ago he railed against it in a lecture in Brooklyn which has a lot of truth in it.
KAPLAN SEES JEWS SEEKING NEW GODS"Let Us Not Become Too Worldly for Our Faith," Professor Says."You claim it is hard for you to be a Jew, because. you don't know what real true Judaism is. After the present reformers have gotten through, not even a Jew ran recognize, his own traditions, customs and religion. "This statement wars made by Prof. Modercai Kaplan, well-known lecturer on Jewish topics, speaking at the weekly open forum conducted by the Jewish Centre, 667 Eastern Parkway, last night. His topic was "Spiritual Self-Adjustment of the Jew."In a discourse that was enthusiastically received Prof. Kaplan outlined in an interesting manner the trials of Jewish educators in this country."In this land of promise," he said, "with every opportunity. and freedom, educators find it hard to attract Jewish youth to their religion because reformers and theorists have eliminated everything that would attract the young mind. Instead they have substituted modern versions of the Bible which acts upon the young mind not as an incentive to study religion but as a poison.""Judaism is not a religion," he continued. "It is the art of living according to the norms and ethical laws extolled by our fathers. Jews claim that It is hard for them to practice their religion due to their activities of anti-semitism, but I think they arc mistaken. The anti-Semites are not at fault. The Jews are at fault; they are trying to enter Gentile clubs, and they are trying to become members of the Y. M. C. A. That is the reason why so much propaganda is aimed at them, for poaching on other people's property and pleasures."If they cannot participate in foreign activities without losing their consciousness of being Jews, let them stop attending these clubs."Jews are losing their individuality trying to modernize themselves to extreme degrees. They do not realize that their individuality and sectionalism is one of the factors that keeps the great multitude in the ranks, and when the modern theorists minimize this, the Jewish youth drifts away, to the new-fangled religions, searching for some thing that will interest them in life, instead of finding it in our own religion as our forefathers did."Let us not become too worldly in our faith. It is only when we cheapen our religion, nationalism, and customs, that we lose faith in them and they are of no more value to us than something that will take up our time on the Sabbath and holidays."Ending his address, he urged that the new schools being built should not be devoted only to gymnasiums and clubrooms but also have them include a "syllabus for the instruction of our language, customs, and faith."
He gave the lecture at the Brooklyn Jewish Center, which was at the time a brand new building, a major hub for Jews in Brooklyn, with a banquet hall, synagogue, gym and swimming pool.
The Brooklyn Jews of Crown Heights ended up doing exactly what Kaplan predicted - they became less interested in Judaism and moved out of the neighborhood.
In 1982, the board decided to sell the building, but it was important for them to keep it Jewish, so they sold it for far less than its value to Chabad.
Today, the building houses Chabad yeshiva Ohalei Torah, and it is only a block from Chabad's headquarters.
Kaplan's warnings about Jewish assimilation were quite valid. His own movement has been a dismal failure at fighting it.
Chabad has taken Kaplan's warnings about revitalizing the religion far more seriously than his own failed Reconstructionist movement has. While disciples have replaced religion with wokeness, Chabad is doing what Kaplan urged Jews to do, albeit not in the way he envisioned.
It is ironic that in the very spot where Kaplan warned about the future of Jews as a religious group and as a nation, the revitalization he demanded is actually happening - and leaving his own followers way behind.
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