Mordecai Kaplan’s Judaism as a Civilization was first published in 1934. The editors of American Jewish Thought Since 1934: Writings on Identity, Engagement, and Belief (Brandeis UP, 2020), a collection of readings, some essays, some chapters from books, see Kaplan’s work as a foundational moment in Jewish thought in America, and so they take their cue from that historical moment. The seventy-nine selections in this book cover a wide range of authors and subjects, providing the reader with snapshots into many of the currents that have informed the field of Jewish thought from the key moment of Kaplan’s magnum opus to the present. In our lively conversation, Michael Marmur and David Ellenson provide us with insight into the process of assembling this book as well as discussion about some of those many currents.
Michael Marmur is associate professor of Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem.
David Ellenson is chancellor emeritus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and professor emeritus at Brandeis University.
Phil Cohen is a rabbi in Columbia, MO. He's also the author of Nick Bones Underground.
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