The Religious Humanism of Mordecai Kaplan: An Anthology

"The happiest moments in my life these days are those which I experience whenever I receive letters from Mel Scult."

— Mordecai M. Kaplan, Diary entry, 1974

A foundational work in modern Jewish thought, The Religious Humanism of Mordecai Kaplan: An Anthology presents the radical and enduring philosophy of one of the most influential religious thinkers of the 20th century.

🔥 Coming October 2026. PRE-ORDER COPY NOW!

“This volume will be valuable to those familiar with Kaplan and to any person who studies or teaches religion—rabbis, laymen, students, and seekers alike. Kaplan wrote on a level which remains relevant for the ages.”

— Prof. Mel Scult, from the Foreword

In a landscape of rising religious fundamentalism, The Religious Humanism of Mordecai Kaplan: An Anthology is a major intellectual achievement. It probes the thoughts of a theological rebel—a fiercely independent thinker who rejected supernatural beliefs and was formally excommunicated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment in 1945, yet devoted his life to tackling the world’s biggest ideas with meticulous devotion.

Kaplan maintained a massive 27-volume personal journal mapping his radical theology. In this ingenious volume, premier Kaplan scholar Professor Mel Scult creates a brilliant two-way conversation: Scult first quotes directly from Kaplan’s original diary entries detailing what he was reading, and then provides expert illumination, contextualizing how these encounters shaped the architecture of Kaplan’s philosophy.

Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881-1983) was a groundbreaking rabbi, philosopher, and founder of the Reconstructionist movement. He instituted the first American Bat Mitzvah for his daughter Judith in 1922. As a longtime professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, his naturalistic theology and institutional innovations left an indelible mark on modern American Judaism.

Release: October 2026 | ISBN: 9781771619448

250 pages 

About the Author

MEL SCULT is a premier Kaplan scholar and Vice President of the Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood. The author of several definitive biographies and studies on Kaplan, he has spent over fifty years editing, teaching, and making Kaplan’s vast textual and diary legacy accessible to the modern world.