Democratizing Judaism

Reviews / Votes

"When it comes to Mordecai Kaplan, Jack Cohen is the teacher of us all. There is much misunderstanding of Kaplan, with people usually identifying him solely with the basic concepts of his system. Jack Cohen, Kaplan's most knowledgeable disciple, goes beyond the basics and in this new work gives us a sense of Kaplan's depth and uniqueness. He offers us the full range of Kaplan's thought while concentrating on his theology, his Zionism and the similarities between his system and that of the great mystic Abraham Isaac Kook. Few people understand the Kook-Kaplan connection the way Jack Cohen does. Kaplan's attitude toward Eretz Yisrael is provocatively idiosyncratic and still extremely valuable for anyone who thinks about Israel in all its complexity. There is no one who knows Kaplan's Zionism better than Jack Cohen. The most valuable aspect of this work is that Cohen knew Kaplan first hand over a long period of time and gives us a vivid sense of Kaplan the man. For long-time Kaplan supporters and for neophytes, this book offers a wonderful in-depth summation of Kaplan's ideology." -- Mel Scult, Professor Emeritus in Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College "In Democratizing Judaism, we are offered many rare glimpses into the evolution of Mordecai M. Kaplan's thinking as Cohen connects Kaplan's writing with his life experiences, his theology with his biography. . . . Cohen opens the volume with glowing words of praise; yet weaving its way through each chapter, and plainly visible by the end, master and disciple are speaking with one voice-a voice that still deserves to be heard; it is a voice that has much to reveal about the promise of Judaism and the state of modern Israel today." -- David Brusin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee * Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, vol. 12, issue 3 (December 2013) *