Between the Lines: Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul
Date: Apr 21, 2026
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Sponsor: The Library
Location: JTS
Category: Book Talks Library Events
Between the Lines: Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul by Jenna Weissman Joselit
Part of Between the Lines: Author Conversations from The Library of JTS
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
7:00 p.m.
In Person at JTS
3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street)
New York City
Join JTS for an in-person conversation with Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul.
About Mordecai M. Kaplan: Restless Soul
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.
About Jenna Weissman Joselit
Jenna Weissman Joselit, the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of History at the George Washington University, is a noted historian of the American Jewish experience, a former columnist for The Forward and Tablet, and currently a contributing writer for The Jewish Review of Books.
