Dana Evan Kaplan

Dana Evan Kaplan (born October 29, 1960) is a Reform rabbi known for his writings on Reform Judaism and American Judaism. He has advocated for a theologically coherent approach to Reform Judaism rather than encouraging a pluralistic approach to belief without limits.[1]

Dana Evan Kaplan
Born(1960-10-29)29 October 1960
Manhattan, New York
OccupationRabbi, Author, Academic
Academic background
Academic work
Main interestsReform Judaism, American Judaism

Biography

Kaplan was born in Manhattan and grew up in New York until the age of fourteen when he moved to Waterbury, Connecticut. He studied at Ramaz School, Friends Seminary, and Chase Collegiate School. He graduated magna cum laude from Yeshiva University, received rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem in 1994 and a PhD in History from Tel Aviv University in 1997.

Kaplan is known to be an avid scuba diver with dives in Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia, Honduras, and many other countries. He has trekked in Nepal where he circled the Annapurna mountain range.

Writings

Kaplan first became known following the 2003 publication of his book American Reform Judaism: An Introduction. He has also written on other subjects, including American Jewish history and Jews in various diaspora communities. Kaplan, influenced by Rodney Stark and other sociologists of religion who apply the Rational Choice Theory to the study of American religious denominationalism, argued that the American Reform Movement needed to raise their demands in order to increase the production of "collective religious commodities," the "religious goods" essential for the continued vitality of the religious group. Kaplan argued that the concept of religious autonomy, while admirable in theory, had produced a negative cycle of apathy and alienation in Reform temples throughout the United States.[2] The book was featured as the subject of a panel discussion in Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought with responses from leaders of the various American Jewish denominations.[3]

His 2009 book, Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal, has been alternately praised for taking new approaches to Jewish religiosity seriously[4][5] and condemned for what some have seen as an excessively non-judgmental approach to trivial irrelevancies.[6][7] Kaplan argued that changing social trends had completely transformed the nature of non-Orthodox Judaism in America. The American Jewish religious denominations were no longer as important as they had been in the thirty or thirty-five year period following World War II and were increasingly irrelevant in a time of post-denominationalism. He credits the "re-engagement with spirituality" as providing the motivation for new forms of Jewish life, which are described in the last three chapters of the book: "Radical Responses to the Suburban Experience," "The Popularization of Jewish Mystical Outreach," and "Herculean Efforts at Synagogue Renewal." Rabbi Lance Sussman, writing in The Jewish Review of Books, praised the final three chapters: "Here, Kaplan is clearly breaking new ground and writing a new narrative for twenty-first century American Judaism."

In 2013, Kaplan wrote The New Reform Judaism: Challenges and Reflections, published by the Jewish Publication Society, with foreword by Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie and afterword by Rabbi Rick Jacobs. In it, Kaplan describes how the American Reform movement faces enormous challenges in the coming years. He argues that in order to remain vibrant and active, the movement will need to develop convincing justifications for maintaining the Jewish people as an ethno-religious group in an era where boundaries and borders of all kinds are fading if not disappearing entirely. In his view, this will necessitate creating a Judaism that will focus not so much on loyalty to community but on innovative practices to engage the individual in the search for existential meaning.

As in his earlier book on Reform Judaism, Kaplan argues that if the Reform movement wants to develop a vibrant religious culture, there is a need for a clearer theology. He argues that every religion has to have a way to explain what it believes and why, and that if too many religious viewpoints are allowed then the religious movement as a whole loses all focus. One of the problems with developing a clearer theology is the tremendous diversity of opinion within the Reform rabbinate and Reform congregations. In addition, there is no universally accepted methodology for determining how to consider or decide upon any theological perspective. One of the greatest challenges, Kaplan writes, is how to present Jewish religious belief in the absence of a consensus over what Reform Jews believe.

Publications

Books
  • A Life of Meaning: Embracing Reform Judaism's Sacred Path, New York: CCAR Press, January 2018. ISBN 978-0-8812-3313-1
  • The New Reform Judaism: Challenges and Reflections, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, November 2013. ISBN 978-0-8276-0934-1
  • Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal, New York: Columbia University Press, June 2009. ISBN 978-0-231-13729-4
  • Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Editor, New York and Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-521-82204-6
  • American Reform Judaism: An Introduction, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2003. 2nd printing June 2005. ISBN 978-0-8135-3219-6 -- Named "A Significant Jewish Book" by Reform Judaism magazine, winter 2003.
  • Platforms and Prayer Books: Theological and Liturgical Perspectives on Reform Judaism, Editor, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. ISBN 978-0-7425-1548-2
  • Contemporary Debates in American Reform Judaism: Conflicting Visions, Editor, New York and London: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 978-0-415-92628-7

Articles

Reform Judaism

  • “Reform Judaism”, with Evan Moffic, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, 2nd Edition, October 2014, 598-605.
  • "A Rabbi's View on Sabbath," Jamaica Gleaner, March 21, 2011.
  • “In Praise of Reform Theology,” The Forward, March 18, 2011.
  • “The Theological Roots of Reform Judaism’s Woes”, The Forward, February 25, 2011.
  • “Reform Judaism in North America,” The Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture, Judith Baskin (Ed.), New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  • "Judaism: Sectarian Movements," The Encyclopedia of Religion in America, CQ Press, Volume 2, 2010, pp. 445–464.
  • "Contemporary Forms of Judaism," The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 445–464.
  • "Reform Judaism," Encyclopaedia Judaica, revised edition, Volume 17, 2007, pp. 165–183.
  • “American Reform Judaism and the Southern Baptist Convention: Responses to Social Trends,” Religion and American Culture, with Scott Langston, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2006, 1-36.
  • “Stephen S. Wise,” The Encyclopedia of New York State, Syracuse University Press, 2005.
  • “Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion,” The Encyclopedia of New York State, Syracuse University Press, 2005.
  • “Thinking about American Reform Judaism,” Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought, Issue 211-212, Volume 53, #’s 3 and 4, Summer/Fall 2004, 197-206.
  • "Response," Judaism, June 2004, 36-45. (This is my response to a symposium entitled “Judaism and the Future of Religion in America: Dana Evan Kaplan’s American Reform Judaism." Responses by: Lawrence Grossman, Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, David Ellenson, Jack Wertheimer, Richard Hirsh, Arthur Waskow, Dana Evan Kaplan.)
  • “The Educational Crisis in American Reform Judaism”, Journal of Beliefs and Values, Taylor and Francis Publishers, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2001, 183-196.
  • “The Rabbinic Life,” CCAR Newsletter, January 2001, 12 and 14.
  • “A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism: The American Reform Movement’s Most Recent Debate,” Australian Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. 14, 2000, 31-53.
  • “Reform Jewish Theology and the Sociology of Liberal Religion in America: The Platforms as Response to the Perception of Socio-Religious Crisis,” Modern Judaism, Oxford University Press, Vol. 20, No. 1, February 2000, 60-77.
  • “Reform Judaism,” The Companion to Judaism, Vol. I, Jacob Neusner (Ed.), New York and London: Blackwell Publishing, 2000, 291-310.
  • “Reform Judaism: Documents,” The Companion to Judaism: Readers’ Guide, Vol. II, Jacob Neusner (Ed.), New York and London: Blackwell Publishing, 2000, 217-231.
  • “A Liberal Rabbi’s High Holiday Reflections,” Jewish Spectator, 65, No. 1, Summer 2000, 47-48.
  • “The New American Reform Pittsburgh Platform of 1999,” Jewish Spectator, Winter 2000, 24-26.
  • “Proposed New Principles Can Stimulate a Beneficial Debate about Reform Judaism,” Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, January 8, 1999.
  • “The 1999 Pittsburgh Platform and Its Impact on American Reform Judaism,” Scottish Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2, December 1999.

American Judaism

  • "What Passover Means for Alabama's Jewish Population," AL.com, April 11, 2017.
  • “Judaism(s) in Contemporary America,” in Blackwell History of Jews and Judaism, edited by Alan T. Levenson, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, 489-513.
  • “Contemporary Forms of Judaism,” The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture, Judith Baskin and Kenneth Seekin (Eds.), Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 445-464.
  • “Judaism: Sectarian Movements,” The Encyclopedia of Religion in America, CQ Press, 2010.
  • “Trends in American Judaism from 1945 to the Present”, Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005, 61-78.
  • “Jewish Theological Seminary, The- Flagship rabbinical seminary of the Conservative movement.,” The Encyclopedia of New York State, Syracuse University Press, 2005.
  • “Yeshiva University- -The predominant Orthodox university in the United States,” The Encyclopedia of New York State, Syracuse University Press, 2005.
  • “The Practice of Judaism in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century”, The Encyclopaedia of Judaism, Supplement One, 2003, 1794-1807.
  • “The Sociological Study of Conservative Judaism in America,” American Jewish Archives Journal, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Vol. LIV, 2002, 91-99.
  • “Responding to the New Reality,” Congress Monthly, Jan-Feb 2002, 3-14.
  • “A View from America: Thoughts at the New Millennium,” Jewish Affairs, Vol. 56, #1, 2001, 47-50.
  • “Autonomy,” The Reader’s Guide to Judaism: A Bibliographic Guide to English-Language Books and Essays on Judaism, Michael Terry (Ed.), Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000, 54-55, 571.
  • “The Determination of Jewish Identity Below the Mason-Dixon Line: Crossing the Boundary From Gentile to Jew in the Nineteenth Century South,” Journal of Jewish Studies, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Vol. LII, No. 1, Spring 2001, 98-121.
  • “Rabbi Samuel Freuder as a Christian Missionary: American Protestant Premillennialism and an Apostate Returner, 1891-1924,” American Jewish Archives Journal, 50th Anniversary issue, Vol. 50, No.’s 1 and 2, 1998, 41-74. Published in July 2000.
  • “Politics and Piety in the Religious Marketplace,” Congress Monthly, July/August 1999, 11-14.
  • “Jewish Religious Life in Colonial America,” Emunah Magazine, Spring-Summer 1998, 21-25.
  • “W.E. Todd’s Attempt to Convert to Judaism and Study for the Reform Rabbinate in 1896,” American Jewish History, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Vol. 83, No. 4, December 1995, 429.

Jamaica

  • "The Meaning of Passover for Jamaicans," The Gleamer, April 14, 2017.
  • “Non-marital Sex in Reform Judaism: Reconciling Theory with Reality,” with Karen Carpenter, Sexuality & Culture 19, no. 4, December 2014.
  • “Questioning Sexuality in Reform Caribbean Judaism: Two Perspectives,” with Karen Carpenter, The Sacred Encounter: Jewish Perspectives on Sexuality, edited by Lisa Grushcow. New York: CCAR Press, 2014.
  • “Wanted: A Distinctly Jamaican Judaism,” Washington Post, December 3, 2013.
  • “In Jamaica, Hanukkah Means Freedom,” Huffington Post, November 25, 2013.
  • “On Prayer: Preserving Tradition While Progressing Spiritually,” Huffington Post, July 31, 2013.
  • “Hanukkah - the other December holiday,” Jamaica Observer, December 15, 2012.
  • “What Hanukkah means for Jamaicans,” The Gleaner, December 5, 2012.
  • “A Synagogue Drawn in the Sand,” Haaretz, August 10, 2012.
  • “Securing Our Future Through Historic Jewish Communities,” The Jewish Press, May 31, 2012.
  • “Becoming Jamaica's Rabbi,” Jerusalem Post Magazine, May 3, 2012.
  • “Becoming Jamaica's Rabbi: Looking Back and Moving Forward,” Huffington Post, April 20, 2012.
  • “The Meaning of the Holocaust for Jamaicans,” The Gleaner, April 19, 2012.
  • “A Rabbi’s View on Sabbath,” The Gleaner, March 21, 2011.

Cuba

  • "Fleeing the Revolution: The Exodus of Cuban Jewry in the Early 1960s," Cuban Studies Vol. 36, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005, pp. 129-154.
  • “Fidel and the Jews,” Cover story, Moment Magazine, August 2004, 36-45, 83-93.
  • “The Jews of Cuba since the Castro Revolution,” Lead article. American Jewish Year Book 2001, New York: American Jewish Committee, 2002, 21-87.
  • “The Future of Jewish Religious Life in Communist Cuba”, CCAR Journal, Summer 2001, 38-46.
  • “Despues Del Affair De Elian Gonzales: Una Perspectiva Judia”, Entre Nosotros, January 2001. (Spanish)
  • “The Aftermath of the Elian Gonzales Affair: A Jewish Perspective,” Congress Monthly: Vol. 67, No. 5, September/October 2000, 12-15.
  • “A Jewish Renaissance in Castro’s Cuba,” Judaism, Vol. 49, No. 2, Spring 2000, 218-236.

South Africa

  • “The Origins of Reform Judaism in South Africa: Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler’s Mission Work with the Jewish Religious Union in Johannesburg, 1929-1933”, Shofar, University of Nebraska Press, in press.
  • “The Jewish Exodus From the New South Africa: Realities and Implications,” with Shale Horowitz, International Migration, Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, Vol. 39 (3), 2001, 3-32.
  • “South Africa,” The Reader’s Guide to Judaism: A Bibliographic Guide to English-Language Books and Essays on Judaism, Michael Terry (Ed.), Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000, 54-55, 571.
  • “The Jewish Community in South Africa,” Emunah Magazine, Spring/Summer 2000, 33-35.
  • “South Africa, Practice of Judaism in,” Encyclopaedia of Judaism, Volume III, Jacob Neusner, Alan J. Avery-Peck, and William Scott Green, (General Eds.) Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill Publishers, 2000, 1347-1357.
  • “Is there a Future for the Jews in South Africa?” Congress Monthly, November/December 1999, 15-17.
  • “Reconciliation and Healing—A South African Jewish Perspective,” The Reconstructionist, Vol. 63, No. 2, Spring 1999, 76-92.
  • “La Question de l’émigration des Juifs dans la Nouvelle Afrique de Sud,” Yod: Revue Des Études Hébraïques et Juives 6, 1999, 81-106.
  • “Jewish Educational Trends in South Africa Today,” Journal of Jewish Education, Vol. 64, No. 3, Fall/Winter 1998, 26–36.
  • “Rabbi Ady Assabi and the Development of Conservative Judaism in South Africa,” Conservative Judaism, Fall 1998, 60–76.
  • “South African Orthodoxy Today: Tradition and Change in a Post-Apartheid, Multiracial Society,” Tradition, Vol. 33, No. 1, Fall 1998, 71–89.
  • “Jewish Religious Conversion in South Africa Today,” CCAR Journal, Fall 1997, 58-68.
  • “Progressive Judaism in the Beloved Country: Religious Thought and Institutional Trends in South Africa Today,” The Journal of Progressive Judaism, England: Sheffield Academic Press, Vol. 8, 1997, 28-58.
  • “Controlled Panic in the New South Africa—The Impact of Social Changes in the South African Jewish Community,” Jewish Spectator, Vol. 62, No. 2, Fall 1997, 33-39.
  • “Why Do Jews Focus on Crime and Car-Jackings?” Manna—Journal of the Sternberg Centre for Judaism at the Manor House, London, England: Manor House Centre for Judaism, No. 56, Summer 1997, 4-5.
  • “Judaism and the Jewish Community in the New South Africa,” Judaism, American Jewish Congress, Vol. 45, No. 3, Summer 1996, 350-360.
  • “Your People, My People—Conversion to Judaism and Jews by Choice Programming in the New South Africa,” Jewish Affairs, South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Vol. 50, No. 3, Spring 1995, 87-89.
  • "'Yes, a modern renaissance of Judaism is needed for it to be relevant for the new South Africa'," The Sunday Independent, Sept. 17, 1995.

See also

References
  1. Kaplan, Dana. "The Theological Roots of Reform Judaism's Woes". The Forward. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. American Reform Judaism: An Introduction, Rutgers University Press, 2003, p 67.
  3. Judaism and the Future of Religion in America: Dana Evan Kaplan’s American Reform Judaism Responses by: Lawrence Grossman, Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, David Ellenson, Jack Wertheimer, Richard Hirsh, Arthur Waskow, Dana Evan Kaplan. Issue no. 211/212, Volume 53, Numbers 3-4, Summer/Fall 2004 pp 163-206.
  4. Valerie Thaler, The American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LXII Number 1, 2010.
  5. Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal, Geffen, David, The Jerusalem Post Magazine, December 3, 2009.
  6. Goldman, David P., First Things, February 1, 2010, "The Hitchhicker’s Guide," Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal.
  7. Rosner, Shmuel, Azure, Autumn 5771, No. 42, 2010, "Plug-and-Play Judaism," Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal.
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