| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
Reconstructionism was developed by Rabbis Mordecai Kaplan ( 1881- 1983) and Ira Eisenstein over a period of time spanning from the late 1920s to the 1940s. It formally became a distinct denomination within Judaism with the foundation of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1968.
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan held that in light of the advances in philosophy, science and history, it would be impossible for modern Jews to continue to adhere to many of Judaism's traditional theological claims. Kaplan's naturalism theology has been seen as a variant of John Dewey's philosophy. Dewey's naturalism combined atheist beliefs with religious terminology in order to construct a religiously satisfying philosophy for those who had lost faith in traditional religion.
In agreement with the classical medieval Jewish thinkers, Kaplan affirmed that God is not personal, and that all anthropomorphicAnthropomorphism also referred to as personification or prosopopeia is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. Anthropomorphism" comes from two Greek words, , anthropos meaning human, and , mor descriptions of God are, at best, imperfect metaphors. Kaplan's theology went beyond this to claim that God is the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become self-fulfilled. Kaplan wrote that "to believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society." It must be noted that not all of Kaplan's writings on the subject were consistent; his position evolved somewhat over the years, and two distinct theolgies can be discerned with a careful reading. The view more popularly associated with Kaplan is strict naturalism, a la Dewey, which has been criticised as using religious termonology to mask a non-theistic (if not outright atheistic) position. However a second strand of Kaplonian theology exists which makes clear that at times Kaplan believed that God has ontological reality, a real and absolute existence independent of human beliefs. In this latter theology Kaplan still rejects classical forms of theism and any belief in miracles, but holds to a position that in some ways is neo-Platonic.
Most Reconstructionist Jews reject traditional forms of theism. Many are deists; a small number accept KabbalisticKabbalah "Reception", Standard Hebrew Qabbala Tiberian Hebrew Qabblh also written variously as Cabala Cabalah Cabbala Cabbalah Kabala Kabalah Kabbala Qabala Qabalah is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. Kabbalah" is a views of God.
All Orthodox Jews, most Conservative Jews, and some Reform Jews find Kaplan's theology incompatible with that of classical Judaism. Some within the Reconstructionist movement, while accepting many of Kaplan's other ideas, refused to accept Kaplan's theology. Instead they affirm a theistic view of God.