Communings of the Spirit

Through the pages of the newly published third volume of Communings of the Spirit in particular, the reader can vicariously experience and understand more deeply Kaplan’s full engagement with the realities of American Judaism, as well as his creative intellectual power and his increasing clarity about the possibilities for the future of American Judaism if it can be reconstructed and when a full range of Jewish life and practices find full expression. The possibility for full self-actualization of the Jewish People in America was why, for Kaplan, American democracy and pluralism could also by a source of our salvation. Because of Scult’s enormous contribution in bringing these three volumes of Communings of the Spirit to light, the future of American Jewry in our times can draw on Kaplan’s private discourse in finding ever-renewing sources of salvation.

~Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, CCAR Journal

This book is highly recommended for personal, synagogue, and academic libraries.

~Daniel D. Stuhlman, Association of Jewish Libraries News and Reviews

Kaplan was a man of contradictions, but because of that, all the more interesting and significant. Scholars of Judaica and rabbinical studies will value this honest look at the preeminent American Jewish thinker and rabbi of our times.

~Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, Jewish Media Review

Mel Scult continues to reveal himself as a master editor and commentator who has done scholar and layperson alike a great service by allowing Kaplan and the events and issues of a decade to come alive through the writings in this book. This latest volume of Kaplan’s diaries is simply a treasure that will captivate and command the attention of a wide swath of readers who are interested in American Jewish history, thought, and religion.

~David Ellenson, Chancellor Emeritus, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion

It is axiomatic that the publication of the third volume of Mordecai M. Kaplan's journals is among the most significant contributions a press can make to the advancement of American Jewish scholarship. Kudos to the press and to Scult for their efforts.

~Jeffrey Gurock

Another great gift from the world's foremost expert on Kaplan and his work. This volume of the Kaplan diaries covers critical decades in his life and reveals his response to the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, and to his own excommunication. An invaluable source on one of America's greatest Jewish thinkers and on American Judaism during a pivotal period of the twentieth century.

~Jonathan D. Sarna

Among Kaplan's many innovative contributions to American Judaism that we learn about from this eagerly awaited third volume of his diaries, masterfully edited by Scult, are the prayer-poems Kaplan composed using the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and other modern authors. These liturgical experiments foreshadowed the flourishing of new literary creations that enrich Jewish worship today. I am grateful to Scult for bringing to light these little-known and inspiring compositions, along with the many other fascinating passages contained in this volume.

~Marcia Falk

Aside from being one of the most influential Jews in twentieth-century America, Kaplan kept an exhaustive diary from about 1904 until the late 1970s. Scult has been expertly excavating Kaplan's voluminous writings for almost half a century. This third volume comprises diary entries during the war years and the founding of the State of Israel. Scult's deep knowledge of Kaplan, his felicitous introduction, and his helpful annotations and notes make this a superb study of a tumultuous time in mid-century American Judaism.

~Shaul Magid

Covering ten tumultuous years, these excerpts reveal Kaplan championing democracy and battling authoritarianism in geo-politics and religious affairs. We see Kaplan forthrightly accept the opportunities and obligations of America's sudden emergence as the world's largest Jewish community and gain further insight into the ways his work was both embraced and attacked. Scult has helped illuminate not only Kaplan but also essential events and personalities from a critical period in Jewish life.

~Deborah Waxman