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C H A P T E R 1 3 Mordecai M . Kapla n Jack J. Cohen In a lif e tha t spanne d ove r a centur y (1881-1983) , Mordeca i M . Kaplan frequentl y anticipate d th e decade s t o come. Hi s mind wa s always o n th e future , bu t h e neve r los t sigh t o f th e fac t tha t th e future i s hew n ou t o f th e pas t an d present . Consequently , hi s thought paid careful attentio n t o the demands of history and to the possibilities and dangers that inhere in the decisions of today. Kaplan's perspective o n time enable d hi m t o avoid muc h o f th e surrender t o intellectua l faddis m tha t characterize s les s carefu l thinkers. H e was , o f course , n o les s a produc t o f hi s tim e tha n anyone else , bu t hi s involvemen t i n th e affair s o f hi s Jewish an d general environment s distance d hi m fro m tryin g t o impos e a n ab stract intellectual system on a reality with which it had little or no connection. Th e Kapla n o f th e thirtie s an d fortie s acte d ou t a n approach tha t ha d bee n formulate d durin g th e experienc e o f th e first half-century o f his life. Kaplan wa s a major forc e i n th e Jewish communit y lon g befor e 1930, eve n thoug h h e ofte n regarde d himsel f a s a failure . Mos t particularly, h e berate d himsel f fo r no t ye t havin g publishe d a major volum e on any of the issues that occupied his mind. I n 1930, Kaplan was forty-nine years old, a late age for a person who aspired to produce a corpus of significant works . Mordecai Kaplan was born in a small town in Latvia.1 His father, Rabbi Israe l Kaplan , wa s a strictl y Orthodo x Jew , who m Kapla n loved an d respecte d fo r hi s probit y an d willingnes s t o expos e hi s 291 292 JAC K J . COHE N son t o heterodo x views . Despit e th e elde r Kaplan' s adherenc e t o traditional Jewis h thought , h e believe d i n opennes s t o th e worl d about him , trustin g tha t Mordecai' s loyalt y t o Rabbini c Judais m would b e strengthened, rathe r tha n weakened , b y suc h exposure . The story of Mordecai Kaplan's subsequent wrestling with traditio n has been well documented an d need not be repeated here . But it is pertinent t o observe tha t Kapla n learne d fro m hi s own experienc e that followin g th e path o f freedom doe s not necessaril y lead to th e results desired. Nonetheless, eve n if the future doe s not turn out a s we migh t lik e i t t o be , w e shoul d continu e t o adher e t o freedo m rather tha n tr y t o forc e ou r offsprin g int o ou r ow n pattern s o f thought an d behavior . Kapla n kne w o f no other wa y tha n tha t o f intellectual persuasio n t o convince other s of the correctnes s of his message. Almost always, he was sure that his views were sound, so that whe n the y wer e rejecte d b y hi s audience s o r hi s readers , h e would occasionally attribut e his failure to a weakness in his formulation o r delivery o r style , rathe r tha n t o th e qualit y o f th e idea s themselves. Nonetheless , hi s diarie s demonstrat e tha t Kapla n di d not permit his vanity to interfere with his intellectual integrity an d judgment. Thos e sam e diarie s aboun d i n...

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