Editing Reconstructionist Judaism (section)

==Theology==
Mordecai Kaplan argued that contemporary Jews can no longer maintain many traditional theological claims or sociocultural practices of Judaism due to advances in philosophy, science, and history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sachar |first=Abram |date=August 5, 1934 |title=Dr. Kaplan Reinterprets Judaism As a Civilization in His 'guide' |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/dr-kaplan-reinterprets-judaism-as-a-civilization-in-his-guide |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> Kaplan affirmed a wholly non-[[anthropomorphic]] God, a position articulated by prominent medieval Jewish thinkers like [[Maimonides]] and in agreement with the rest of [[Rabbinic Judaism]]. All anthropomorphic descriptions of God, he argued, are understood to be metaphorical.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scult |first=Mel |title=The radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-253-01711-6 |location=Bloomington |pages=71–73 |oclc=907086625}}</ref>

Kaplan's theology went further to claim that God is neither a [[personal god]] nor a conscious one; God cannot relate to or communicate with humanity in any way.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaufman |first=William |date=1991 |title=Mordecai M. Kaplan and Process Theology: Metaphysical and Pragmatic Perspectives |url=https://www.religion-online.org/article/mordecai-m-kaplan-and-process-theology-metaphysical-and-pragmatic-perspectives/ |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=religion-online.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Kaplan's theology defines God as the "sum of all natural processes that allow people to become self-fulfilled"—a [[Religious naturalism#Notable proponents and critics|religious]] and [[spiritual naturalism#Examples in religions and philosophies|spiritual naturalism]].{{sfn|Kaplan|1994|p=}}
{{quote|To believe in God means to accept life on the assumption that it harbors conditions in the outer world and drives in the human spirit which together impel man to transcend himself. To believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society. In brief, God is the Power in the cosmos that gives human life the direction that enables the human being to reflect the image of God.<ref>Sonsino, Rifat. ''The Many Faces of God: A Reader of Modern Jewish Theologies''. 2004, page 22–23</ref>}}

Most "classical" Reconstructionist Jews (i.e., those agreeing with Kaplan) reject traditional forms of [[theism]], though this is by no means universal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Fuchs |first=Nancy |date=2006 |title=Seventy Years After Judaism as a Civilization: Mordecai Kaplan's Theology and the Reconstructionist Movement |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/jewish_social_studies/v012/12.2fuchs.html |journal=Jewish Social Studies |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=127–142 |doi=10.1353/jss.2006.0014 |issn=1527-2028}}</ref> Many Reconstructionist Jews are [[deism|deists]], but the movement also includes Jews who hold [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]], [[pantheism|pantheistic]], personal, and/or [[Panentheism|panentheistic]] views of God.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/subdivisions/reconstructionist_1.shtml|title=BBC - Religions - Judaism: Reconstructionist Judaism|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-07}}</ref> As he explicitly stated, Kaplan's theology does not represent the only Reconstructionist understanding of theology; theology is not the cornerstone of the Reconstructionist movement. Much more central is the idea that [[Judaism is a civilization]] and that the Jewish people must take an active role in ensuring its future by participating in its ongoing evolution.

Consequently, a strain of distinctly non-Kaplanian Reconstructionism exists.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} In this view, Kaplan's assertions concerning Jewish belief and practice are largely rejected while his principle of Judaism being an "evolving religious civilization" is sustained. The basis for this approach is that Kaplan spoke for ''his'' generation; he also wrote that every generation would need to define itself and its civilization for itself.{{cn|date=April 2025}} In the thinking of these Reconstructionists, what Kaplan said concerning Jewish belief and practice is inapplicable to the generations of Reconstructionism since his death. As such, non-Kaplanian Reconstructionist Judaism could include belief in a personal God, endorsement of the concept of [[Jews as the chosen people]], a belief in some form of [[resurrection]] and/or an [[Jewish eschatology#World to come|afterlife]], and adherence to some version of binding ''[[Halakha]]''. In the latter context, novel interpretations of domains of ''Halakha'' like ''[[Kashrut]]'' have emerged, such as ''[[Eco-Kashrut]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}