INTRODUCTION:
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (1934-1983) was a nuclear physicist and a
highly respected rabbi who authored over fifty books. Although he passed away
at the untimely age of 48, during his short life he managed to get listed in
the Who’s Who in Physics, was credited with being a major player in the Baal
Teshuvah Movement, and he revived and reconstructed ancient Jewish
meditation practices from original texts.
His scholarly books speak for themselves and his authority
is widely recognized.
In this article, however, we will take a look at the even
more fascinating human being behind and beyond the books.
LEONARD MARTIN KAPLAN:
Aryeh Moshe was born Leonard Martin in the East Bronx in 1934
to non-religious parents, Samuel and Fannie Kaplan. His mother passed away when
Leonard was only 13 years old, and his sisters, Sandra and Barbra, were sent to
a foster home.
Leonard, or Len as he was known, was expelled from a public
school in the Bronx and became a street kid.
On one occasion, the young Len saved a Chassidic boy
of about his age from being attacked by a gang. This lad, Henoch Rosenberg
happened to be a Klausenburger Chassid and he encouraged his new friend
to say Kaddish for his mother and he started to teach him Chumash.
Apparently, Len then joined the Klausenburg Yeshiva and became close to the rebbe,
who later suggested - after some time at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and Mir Yeshiva
in Brooklyn - that he go and further his studies in Israel.
Len then became Aryeh and he enrolled at Mir Yeshiva in
Jerusalem. In 1956, he received his rabbinical ordination from Chief Rabbi
Yitzchak Hertzog and also from R. Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, Rosh Yeshiva of Mir.
In the late 1950’s R. Kaplan returned to America and began
his secular studies in various universities where he excelled at physics and
emerged a Nuclear Physicist.
A sample of R. Aryeh Kaplan's secular work. |
Then, in the mid-1960’s he decided to go back to his first love and to seek work as a rabbi.
R. ARYEH KAPLAN’S RABBINIC APPOINTMENTS:
The following extract is from his 1956 ordination
certificate issued by the Mir Rosh Yeshiva:
“I have the opportunity to
recognize the honor of Rav Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan from Brooklyn, New
York...[who has] merited to good name and is well-known as a genius, an expert
in Shas, Rishonim, Acharonim, and for all laws to be given Yoreh Yoreh Yadin
Yadin.
And that it will be that he’ll
be one of the great of our generation and that many will come to the light of
his Torah and fortunate is the congregation that will have him as a rabbi and
teacher.”
The ‘fortunate congregations’ he served at are
surprisingly interesting:
From the Globe-Gazette, page 8, Mason City 1965. |
From 1966 to 1967, R. Kaplan became the rabbi of B’nai Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Tennessee.
From 1967 to 1969, he serves at Adath Israel, a Conservative
synagogue in New Jersey.
From 1969 to 1971 he moved to Albany where he presided over
Ohav Shalom, again a Conservative synagogue.
According to Dr Alan Brill[1]:
“He seems to have done quite a
few weddings jointly with Reform and Conservative clergy.”
THE BRESLOV CONNECTION:
A strong influence in R. Kaplan’s life was R. Tvi Aryeh
Rosenfeld (d. 1978) who pioneered the spreading of Breslov teachings in
America and throughout the English speaking world. The two partnered together
on a number of Breslover publications. This was at a time when, unlike
today, very few had even heard of the name Breslov.
[On a personal note, my teacher R. Chaim Kramer told me how
he sat together with R. Kaplan as youngsters at the shiurim of R.
Rosenfelt, and how he remembers R. Kaplan writing meticulously in minuscule
handwriting, filling volumes onto a single page. R. Kramer eventually married
R. Rosenfelt’s daughter and went on to found the Breslov Research Institute and
he and R. Kaplan continued to work together on other projects. See The
Sweeter Side of Breslov.]
R. KAPLAN’S INTERFAITH EXCURSIONS:
R. Kaplan was not in the least
hesitant to actively participate in interfaith events, and boldly expressed his
views on the subject of faith.
According to the Mason City Globe
Gazette in 1966:
“St. John’s
Episcopal Church Sunday night became the first Episcopal Church in the state
reported as electing two women to its vestry...
In the
general annual meeting which followed a potluck meal, the group heard Rabbi
Leonard M Kaplan of Adas Israel Synagogue say: ‘We often spend much effort
in making a god out of our particular religion. Shouldn’t we spend just as much
effort in making our religion a religion of God?’
Rabbi Kaplan
called for efforts to appreciate strange and often exotic religions,
understanding that each one speaks for God and may even have a message for
us...
‘In a sense,
every religion is an open eye upon God, giving us its own flat, one-dimensional
view...It is only the totality of them all that can give us a multidimensional
view of the Divine and a panorama of infinite depth...
The eye does
not hate the ear for not seeing. The ear does not despise the nose for not
hearing. The many religions perceive God, each in a different way. But as long
as they all look toward God, they are one.’”
YENTL:
In the early 1980s, R. Kaplan was
a rabbinic consultant for the movie Yentl. Years ago, when I saw that movie, I
remember thinking that it was unusually accurate in its depiction of religious
Jews – now I know why:
“Rabbi
Leonard Kaplan enjoyed advising the cast on ritual and its meaning. He showed
them how to sway and bend while they pray, explained what it means to study the
Talmud and in general helped the cast understand the outlook of a religious
Jew.”
The movie is about a girl who
dresses up as a boy so that he/she could study Talmud. R. Kaplan was quite
comfortable in his role as a consultant in such an unusual movie because, as he said, even if
“It is an abomination...so what?”
THE PSAK OF R. MOSHE FEINSTEIN:
R. Kaplan was concerned about
whether it was permissible to invite people to services on Shabbat if it was
probable that they would drive to the synagogue. He wrote to R. Moshe Feinstein
who subsequently addressed the following responsum[2]
to R. Kaplan:
R. Moshe Feinstein essentially said:
“...Regarding the matter of making a service...even
for young people under Bar Mitzvah, who will definitely arrive by motor vehicles
because of the long distances [they would have to travel to the synagogue] and thereby
desecrate the Shabbat – it is simple and clear that it is forbidden...”[3]
According to R. Ari Kahn:
“...based on the other rabbinic positions he
takes – notably Iowa – which...only had ‘late’ Friday night services, it would
seem that he [i.e. Rabbi Kaplan][4]
did not accept Rav Moshe’s psak.”[5]
ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BORO PARK:
In 1971 R. Kaplan moved to Brooklyn where he remained until
his passing in 1983 but he never took a position of rabbi again. He settled in
the outskirts of Boro Park.
Perle Besserman[6]
describes how, during the late seventies, R. Kaplan’s living room was a sort of
centre for gatherings, which attracted, amongst others, such diverse crowds as
modern orthodox psychologists; Jews who had just returned from India; as well
as those “ who just crashed on his couch.”
Shaul Magid writes[7]
that:
“Kaplan’s
decision to live on the margins of Boro Park was more than symbolic...Kaplan
decided to stay on the margins of that world.”
His books on Kabbalah had
been printed by a New Age press in Maine and this apparently “bothered some
of the more conformist haredim in Boro Park...”
THE PAINTER:
Shaul Magid describes R. Kaplan’s
phase as a painter:
“His dining
room was adorned with a series of bizarre oil paintings. At some point, with no
training as an artist, Kaplan decided to refrain from study for a year and
devoted himself to painting. After the year he stopped and never painted
again.”
THE AGE OF THE UNIVERSE:
Although many believe the world to
be close to six thousand years old (starting from the first Shabbat), R. Kaplan
took the position that the Big Bang occurred “approximately 15 billion years
ago.” This, he said corresponded to the views of the 13th
century Kabbalists, and to the views of other rabbinic sources.
He presented a paper on this matter to the Association of Orthodox Jewish
Scientists.
(According to ESA’s Planck project
of 2015, the age of the universe was set at 13,799 +/- 0.021 billion years.)
KABBALISTS AND MIND
ALTERING SUBSTANCES:
R. Kaplan wrote that some
medieval Kabbalists may have used psychedelic drugs[8] to achieve
lofty states. Also, cannabis, known as k’nei bosem (sounds similar) was
used in the anointing oil.[9]
WHEN THE MYSTICS BEGAN TO
DOMINATE JEWISH THOUGHT:
In a 1980 interview[10]
R. Aryeh Kaplan said:
“I
consider The Handbook the
most important thing I’ve ever done. I wrote most of it about 12 years ago.
While I was writing it, I gradually realized that Jewish philosophy almost
comes to an abrupt end in the 14th and 15th centuries. And from there on,
almost all of Jewish philosophy and Jewish thought and theology is dominated by
Kabbalah.”
R. Kaplan was able to
ascertain that rationalist/philosophical thought was abruptly ended around the
1300s and that the mystical tradition thereafter dominated most of Jewish
thought. This is an interesting cut-off date for those interested in the
understanding of when Jews were finally weaned off rationalist thought and
philosophy.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE:
R. Kaplan appears to have believed
in the possibility of extraterrestrial life. To this end, he cited a number of
classical rabbinic sources including Chasdai Crescas[11]
and the Kabbalisic work Sefer ha Brit[12].
He wrote that “[t]here may be
other forms of intelligent life in the universe, but such forms do not have
free will, and therefore do not have moral responsibility – at least in the
same sense as human beings.”[13]
EPILOGUE:
On another personal note – not
that I have strong feelings one way or the other on the subject of extraterrestrial
life – but I once gave a talk and mentioned, in passing, the possibility of
extraterrestrial life being compatible with some rabbinic sources as documented
by R. Kaplan. The next day I received an email from an authoritative
institution asking me to rather stick to ‘more conventional sources’.
R.
Kaplan and his sources, it seems, were not conventional enough. Anyway, I sent
them a long list of rabbinical sources and many years have since passed but I
haven’t heard back from them since.
R. Aryeh Kaplan appears to have been as normal as he was
exceptional.
It seems that he had a great sense of humour; he had hippy as well
as scholarly friends; he sometimes skipped class at Yeshiva but he graduated
with distinction; he once wore a toupee; he loved growing cactus plants; he
researched, wrote, painted, and above all he always thought out of the box.
R. Pinchas Stolper - R. Kaplan’s original sponsor -
described him, essentially, as a man who was never afraid to speak his mind.
With a mind like his, it is no wonder that some had difficulty in keeping up with, let alone understanding him.
With a mind like his, it is no wonder that some had difficulty in keeping up with, let alone understanding him.
UPDATE:
See here for how a complete chapter of R. Aryeh Kaplan's Handbook of Jewish Thought was censored out of his published work because it presented evolution 'as part of the basic tenets of Judaism'.
See here for how a complete chapter of R. Aryeh Kaplan's Handbook of Jewish Thought was censored out of his published work because it presented evolution 'as part of the basic tenets of Judaism'.
[1]
The Book of Doctrines and Opinions; Lost Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Part II.
[2]Igrot
Moshe, Orach Chaim, Siman 98.
[3] My
loose translation of a short extract of the responsum.
[4] Parenthesis
mine.
[5]
The Book of Doctrines and Opinions; Lost Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Part III.
[6]
Pilgrimage: Adventures of a Wandering Jew
[7]
Piety and Rebellion: Essays in Hasidism, by Shaul Magid.
[8] Meditation and Kabbalah, by Aryeh Kaplan, p. 156.
[9]
The Living Torah, Aryeh Kaplan, p. 442.
[10]
Conversations in the Spirit: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.
[11]
Or haShem 4:2.
[12]
By R. Pinchas Eliyahu Horowitz.
[13]
The Aryeh Kaplan Reader: On Extraterrestrial Life.
Really loved reading this. Have read many of his books and he was able to explain a deep concept in a simple way.
ReplyDeleteהדת תשים משטרה על עניני הקודש, ותניח את ידה מעניני החול. זהו מושג מחוייב ממושג הדת. האלהים הוא מתגלה מן הכל, מתוך הקודש ומתוך החול.
ReplyDeleteThe religion polices matters of the holy, and abandons matters of the secular. That is essential to the idea of religion. But God is revealed from all things, from within the holy and from within the secular.
Nice R. Moshe. Maybe its time to start a Kook Blog!!
ReplyDeleteit would be nice if someone would mention his sefardic roots. He has translated the Meam Loez from its original ladino. see his introduction there.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure that first photo is of Aryeh Kaplan?
ReplyDeleteFave isn’t as round, lips thinner than in the photo in the newspaper clipping, no noticeable dimple in chin in the second photo either. Could be just the poor reproduction, but I am suspicious. Thanks for posting this short biography of an extraordinary man.
I was close to Reb Aryeh and spent a great deal of time in his home. He NEVER bragged and was loath to receive a compliment however I recall that I was once sitting next to him at the Shabbes table and he leaned over towards me and whispered in my ear: "You know, I learned very close wit the Kloisenberger."
ReplyDeleteThe photo leading the essay is NOT a young Aryeh Kaplan but rather Gregory Kaplan, a Jewish Studies scholar. This photo should be removed. Thanks. Shaul.Magid@dartmouth.edu
ReplyDeleteThank you for that. There were some questions raised about the photo.
ReplyDeleteMy own picture was the official Wikipedia photo depicting the Kotzker Rebbe...so I know about mistaken identity.