He left this position to found the Society for the Advancement of Judaism ( SAJ) in New York City in 1922. As a young man, Kaplan served an Orthodox congregation, the Jewish Center in New York City, as rabbi.

Though Orthodox, Kaplan’s father educated his daughter Sophie in both Jewish and secular subjects alongside his son Mordecai. Born in Lithuania, he was the son of an Orthodox rabbi who immigrated to the United States to assist Rabbi Jacob Joseph (1848–1902) in his work as chief rabbi of New York. Kaplan’s commitment to the equality of women was an essential part of his life and thought. The concepts and teachings of Mordecai Kaplan form the basis for understanding Reconstructionism’s pioneering role in the struggle for women’s equality in Judaism. halakhic Judaism and mainstream Jewish communal institutions. While the philosophy of Reconstructionism has undergone significant changes since Kaplan’s death, the equality of women remains a central tenet and the springboard for robust inclusion of other populations marginalized by The legal corpus of Jewish laws and observances as prescribed in the Torah and interpreted by rabbinic authorities, beginning with those of the Mishnah and Talmud. Kaplan was a principal architect of women’s equality in Judaism. Among his bold new ideas was advocacy for changes in women’s roles in Jewish life, which grew out of his commitment to democratic principles. Kaplan was a controversial figure in American Jewish history because of his willingness to confront difficult issues. As part of his program for reconstruction, Kaplan rejected a supernatural theology and repudiated the concept of the chosen people. Reconstructionists use the foundation and building blocks they have inherited from the past, reordering and adding to them so that they fit the needs, values, and tastes of current generations, but without altering them in ways that would make them unrecognizable or sap their richness. The term “Reconstructionism” draws from John Dewey’s progressive approach to education and comes from Kaplan’s insistence that Judaism should be neither reformed nor conserved but rather reconstructed.

Kaplan is renowned for his definition of Judaism as an evolving religious civilization. Unlike other branches of American Judaism, Reconstructionism originated on American soil in the philosophy of one individual, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1982).

Lesbian Rabbis by Rebecca T. Alpert