Society for the Advancement of Judaism

History

SAJ was founded by Mordecai Kaplan in order to put into practice his conception of Judaism as an evolving civilization. At the dedication of SAJ's new building in 1926, Kaplan explained the goals of the Reconstructionist Movement in general and the SAJ in particular in the form of the "Thirteen Wants"

The first American Bat Mitzvah was held at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism on Saturday morning, March 18, 1922, for Judith Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan.

In 1927, the board of SAJ voted to replace the Kol Nidre prayer with Psalm 150 in the liturgy for the Yom Kippur service. Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan justified the change, arguing that the actual text of Kol Nidre was overly legalistic and not in keeping with the spirit of the Yom Kippur holiday. Lack of satisfaction from congregants later pushed Rabbi Kaplan to restore the recitation of Kol Nidre. However, despite reintroducing Kol Nidre, Rabbi Kaplan added a line to the prayer that specified that only vows that "estrange ourselves from those who have offended us, or to give pain to those who have angered us" should be annulled by the recitation.

In 1945, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, along with Rabbis Ira Eisenstein and Eugene Kohn published the Sabbath Prayer Book. The publication of this siddur led the Union of Orthodox Rabbis to issue a herem against Rabbi Kaplan. In the wake of this controversy, Rabbi Kaplan gave a lecture at SAJ entitled "Excommunication vs. Freedom of Worship" and advertised it in the New York Times. The herem also caused controversy for the synagogue including causing one of its secretaries to resign.

After Michael Strassfeld became the Rabbi at SAJ in 2001, SAJ ended its dual affiliation with the Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, becoming solely affiliated with the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation.

Notable clergy and members

Clergy

Former Rabbis

• Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, founder of SAJ and Reconstructionist Judaism
• Rabbi Ira Eisenstein, founder of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Former Cantors

• Moshe Nathanson, composer of Hava Nagilah

Notable Current or Former Members

• Mimi Levin Lieber, pioneer of focus groups
• Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, author, composer and first girl to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah
• Frieda Schiff Warburg, philanthropist
• Felix Warburg, banker
• Arnold Richards, psychoanalyst and Yiddish cultural organizer

References

References

1. (8 September 2015). "The SAJ Welcomes Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann".
2. (26 April 2022). "The Founding of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ) Was Significant: Not Primarily Because of the 'First Bat Mitzvah' - Evolve". Reconstructing Judaism.
3. "The Thirteen Wants {{!}} Sacred Texts Archive".
4. (1 March 2022). "What the First Bat Mitzvah in the U.S. Looked Like". Teen Vogue.
5. (25 September 2012). "The case against Kol Nidre".
6. (7 October 2011). "Tough to Put the Kibosh on Kol Nidre".
7. (14 September 2010). "The Curious Case of Kol Nidre - Diario Judío México".
8. "Prof. Mordecai M. Kaplan "excommunicated" by Orthodox Rabbis, His Prayer Book Burned".
9. (2010). "The Excommunication of Mordecai Kaplan". American Jewish Achives Journal.
10. (27 July 2022). "Reconstructing the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ) - Evolve". Reconstructing Judiasm.
11. "Ira Eisenstein".
12. (24 November 2021). "In Memoriam - Reconstructing Judaism".
13. "Judith Kaplan Celebrates First American Bat Mitzvah Ceremony".
14. (29 September 2025). "Jerusalem Holiday".
15. "Arnold Richards {{!}} Yiddish Book Center".