Mordecai M. Kaplan

Name: Mordecai M. Kaplan
Price: 39.95 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9780300264340

Restless Soul

Jenna Weissman Joselit

$39.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

Yale University
13 August 2026

Biography; Biography: general; Biography: religious & spiritual; Judaism; Judaism: theology

Series: Jewish Lives

An engaging biography that goes behind the myths to reveal the complex life of a transformative figure in modern American Judaism

Rabbi, writer, teacher, and thinker, Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881–1983) was one of the leading Jewish personalities of twentieth-century America. Founder of the Reconstructionist movement, he was a maverick who reshaped religious faith and practice, generating controversy at every turn. Known for his relentless energy and imagination, Kaplan redefined Jewish identity, emphasizing reason over superstition and intellectual discovery over passive inheritance. He introduced new rituals, reevaluated the role of tradition, and advocated for a Judaism that evolved with the times and fostered an inclusive community. Drawn extensively from Kaplan’s private diaries and correspondence with family and close friends, Jenna Weissman Joselit’s intimate portrait of this influential and iconoclastic thinker sheds new light on the meaning of American Judaism, identity, the limits of belonging, and the role of faith in modern society.

By: Jenna Weissman Joselit
Imprint: Yale University
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 146mm,
ISBN: 9780300264340
ISBN 10: 0300264348
Series: Jewish Lives
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 13 August 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Jenna Weissman Joselit is the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and professor of history at the George Washington University. Her many books include Set in Stone: America’s Embrace of the Ten Commandments and The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880–1950, a National Jewish Book Award winner in History.

Reviews for Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul

“To capture Mordecai Kaplan’s long and astonishingly productive life takes skill and discernment and a deep understanding of American Jewish life. All these qualities are on display is Joselit’s wonderful volume. She has done justice to a remarkable man.”—Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart