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Mordecai Kaplan

Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983), was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Kaplan

A Kavvanah on Praying, Singing, and Listening to Torah Readings, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1942)

Contributed on: 11 Mar 2019 by Mel Scult | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

A prayer on praying, singing, and Torah learning by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. . . .


An American Covenant of Brotherhood, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn (1945)

Contributed on: 20 Feb 2021 by Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

A civic prayer for the Sabbath occurring during Brotherhood Week (February 19th-28th) in the United States. . . .


💬 בן סירא מב:כא-מג:לא | ben Sira 42:21-43:31, a hymn of creation translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan

Contributed on: 21 Jul 2018 by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) | Mordecai Kaplan | Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

Ecclesiasticus (ben Sira) 42:21-43:31 is presented as “God the Lord of Nature” in The Sabbath Prayer Book of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (The Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 376-372 in the Supplements subsection, “God in Nature.” The text of Ben Sira used here differs in places found in other manuscripts. . . .


Closing Ceremony for Flag Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 14 Jun 2023 by Mordecai Kaplan | Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This closing ceremony for Flag Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), pp. 133-135. . . .


Closing Prayer for Arbor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Jan 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This closing prayer for Arbor Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 86. . . .


Closing Prayer for Labor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Apr 2021 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“Closing Prayer [for Labor Day]” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165. . . .


Closing Prayer for New Year’s Day, adapted by Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn from a prayer by Members of the Faculty of the Colgate Divinity School (1947)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Members of the Faculty of Colgate-Rochester Divinity School | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This “Closing Prayer” for New Year’s Day was adapted by Mordecai Kaplan and Eugene Kohn from a prayer first published by unnamed “Members of the Faculty” of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School (The Colgate-Rochester Divinity School Bulletin, “Prayers for the New Year,” vol. 19 no. 2 (1947), pp. 65-71). Kaplan & Kohn’s adapted prayer essentially contains excerpts from the prayer of the Faculty (excluding any with explicit Christian content). The adapted prayer was published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 25-26. –Aharon Varady . . .


Closing Prayer for Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This closing prayer for Thanksgiving Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 327-328 — following at the end of a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .


Closing Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 16 Oct 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This closing prayer for United Nations Day was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 272-273. . . .


Closing Prayer for Washington’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 20 Feb 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This closing prayer for Washington’s Birthday as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951). . . .


Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly, a prayer by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 15 Jul 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“Courage to Withstand the Ridicule of the Worldly,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 433-4 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . .


אלהים חיי הטבע | Elohim the Life of Nature, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 29 Dec 2018 by Abraham Regelson (translation) | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“God the Life of Nature” by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan was first published in his Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 382-391, where it appears side-by-side with its translation into Hebrew by Abraham Regelson. . . .


Life Is What We Make It, a prayer-poem based on the writings of Rabbi Leo Baeck by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 01 Sep 2021 by Mordecai Kaplan | Leo Baeck | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

A prayer-poem by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan based on the writings of Rabbi Leo Baeck, as published in the Sabbath Prayer Book (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p.426-7. . . .


מי שברך לתקופת יום הולדת | Mi sheBerakh on behalf of one celebrating a birthday, by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 13 Sep 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“Prayer in behalf of one celebrating a birthday,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 494-497 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945) . . .


Needed Prophets for Our Day, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan (1942) adapted from “The Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1838)

Contributed on: 07 Jun 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This prayer by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, first penned in his diary for 23 August 1942, was first published in The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan, by Mel Scult (1990). Although the prayer was not included in Kaplan’s Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945), it was added to the loose-leaf prayerbook he kept at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism synagogue. . . .


On the Decalogue, life wisdom for a Bnei Mitsvah by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan (ca. 1920s)

Contributed on: 17 Aug 2024 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This is a restatement of the Decalogue offered as life wisdom by Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Kaplan for his daughters, sometime in the 1920s, possibly as early as 1922 at the Bat Mitsvah of his oldest daughter Judith. The document was found by Mel Scult and shared by him from his Mordecai Kaplan Discussion Group on Facebook. . . .


Opening Prayer for United Nations Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 16 Oct 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer for United Nations Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 249-250. . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of Arbor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Jan 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer for Arbor Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of Flag Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 14 Jun 2023 by Mordecai Kaplan | Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer for Flag Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 117 . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of Labor Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Apr 2021 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“Opening Prayer on the Significance of [Labor] Day” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.165. . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of Lincoln’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 10 Feb 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer-essay for Lincoln’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951) — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of New Year’s Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer for New Year’s Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 3-4 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer for Thanksgiving Day, “The Significance of the Day,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 304 — as preface to a number of readings selected by Mordecai Kaplan, Eugene Kohn, and J. Paul Williams for the day. . . .


Opening Prayer on the Significance of Washington’s Birthday, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 20 Feb 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

This opening prayer for Washington’s Birthday, “The Significance of the Day,” as first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951). . . .


תהלים ק״ד | Psalms 104, a hymn of creation translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 14 Jul 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | the Masoretic Text | Unknown Author(s) | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

Psalms 104, translated by Mordecai Kaplan and presented as “God as Creator and Renewer of Nature” can be found on p. 360-5 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945), the first prayer in a subsection of supplementary prayers called “GOD IN NATURE.” . . .


📖 ספר תפילות לשבת | Sabbath Prayer Book, by the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation (1945)

Contributed on: 15 Sep 2017 by Mordecai Kaplan | Eugene Kohn | Ira Eisenstein | Milton Steinberg | Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation |

Arranged and translated by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the Sabbath Prayer Book is the first Reconstructionist prayerbook we know of to have entered the Public Domain. . . .


Salvation through Labor, a prayer for the Sabbath before Labor Day, adapted from the writings of A.D. Gordon by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 19 Aug 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aaron David Gordon | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“Salvation through Labor,” adapted by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan from the writings of Aaron David Gordon, can be found on p. 548-551 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). The translation was attributed in the Sabbath Prayer Book to its editors (Mordecai Kaplan & Eugene Kohn, assisted by Ira Eisenstein and Milton Steinberg). . . .


📖 Supplementary Prayers and Readings for the High Holidays, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1934)

Contributed on: 07 Jan 2024 by Mordecai Kaplan |

The first prayerbook compiled by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, published by the United Synagogue as a selection of supplemental readings on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur. . . .


That America Fulfil the Promise of Its Founding, a prayer for Independence Day by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 27 May 2019 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

A prayer for Independence Day in the United States by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, prefaced by an abridged reading of the Declaration of Independence. . . .


“That America’s Heroes Shall Not Have Died in Vain” with a special El Malé Raḥamim prayer for Memorial Day, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 27 May 2019 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

A service and prayer for Memorial Day in the United States, containing a variation of El Malé Raḥamim, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. . . .


That Religion Be Not a Cloak for Hypocrisy, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1945)

Contributed on: 14 Jul 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“That Religion Be Not a Cloak for Hypocrisy,” by Rabbi Mordecai Menaḥem Kaplan can be found on p. 435-5 of his The Sabbath Prayer Book (New York: The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945). . . .


The Dignity of Labor, a prayer for Labor Day by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 11 Apr 2021 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“Dignity of Labor” is a prayer for Labor Day first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p.176-177. . . .


📖 The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays, compiled by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 22 Dec 2020 by Eugene Kohn | John Paul Williams | Mordecai Kaplan | Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation |

A collection of civic prayers, poems, and readings arranged for thirteen civic holidays in the United States. . . .


The Pious Man, a prayer-poem by Mordecai Kaplan adapted from the essay “An Analysis of Piety” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1942)

Contributed on: 13 Jul 2018 by Mordecai Kaplan | Abraham Joshua Heschel | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“The Pious Man” is a prayer-poem from Mordecai Kaplan’s diary entry, September 19, 1942, on the virtue of piety as expressed in an essay published earlier that year by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Piety was a Roman virtue, but in this essay, A.J. Heschel appears to be describing an idealization of Ḥasidut. . . .


War Can Be Abolished, by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, J. Paul Williams, and Eugene Kohn (1951)

Contributed on: 16 Oct 2021 by John Paul Williams | Eugene Kohn | Mordecai Kaplan | Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) |

“War Can Be Abolished,” was first published in The Faith of America: Readings, Songs, and Prayers for the Celebration of American Holidays (Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 1951), p. 262-265. . . .