Mordecai Kaplan’s Understanding of Holiness

Abstract

The Reconstructionist category of holiness, reflecting the essence of God in traditional Judaism, is a challenge both to contemporary Jewish thought and to theological thought in general. This paper attempts to explain why and how Mordecai Kaplan – the forerunner of the most liberal trend in Judaism – embarked on a reconstruction of the biblical concept of holiness and demonstrated the consequences of his transformations. First, Kaplan’s concept of holiness is discussed, followed by his description of the notion of “sancta” as advanced by the Reconstructionists. Next, Kaplan’s understanding of holiness, which denotes the fullness of humanity rather than the essence of the personal God, as in traditional Judaism, has been presented. Thus, according to Kaplan, holiness is an anthropological and not a theological category because he understood it as a “transcendental validity” on the path to attain human self-fulfillment in this world. From the perspective of tradition, the Reconstructionist concept of holiness results in Judaism’s desacralization, which can primarily be seen in the desacralization of God, the Torah, the Chosen People, and the Sabbath. Even allowing for Judaism’s diversity of views and positions, Kaplan’s concept of holiness is truly revolutionary in modern Jewish thought.