Bibliography

← Towards a Spiritual Humanistic Judaism

Baḥya ben Joseph ibn Paquda. The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart. Translated by Menahem Mansoor with Sara Arenson and Shoshana Dannhauser. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973.

Boettiger, Joshua. “I’m Religious, Not Spiritual: The Nuances of Obligation.” Evolve, May 2, 2025. https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/im-religious-not-spiritual-the-nuances-of-obligation/.

Di Maggio, Martin Hasan. Adopting Judaism: The Workbook. Unpublished manuscript.

———. Being Jewish in the 21st Century: Challenging the Binary of Religious vs. Secular: The Case of Masortiim. Unpublished essay, 2024.

———. Keeping Shabbat: Sacred Time Without Supernaturalism. Unpublished manuscript.

———. Tefilotenu: Prayerbook of Spiritual Humanistic Judaism. Self-published, Amazon KDP, 2026.

———. Why I Am a Religious Humanistic Jew. Unpublished essay.

Fuchs-Kreimer, Nancy. “Seventy Years after ‘Judaism as a Civilization’: Mordecai Kaplan’s Theology and the Reconstructionist Movement.” Jewish Social Studies: History, Culture, and Society, n.s., 12, no. 2 (Winter 2006): 127–142.

Glanzberg-Krainin, Deborah. “Judaism as a Generation: Kaplan, Levi-Strauss, and Why I Believe in the Jewish Future.” Evolve, March 2, 2022. https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/judaism-as-a-generation-kaplan-levi-strauss-and-why-i-believe-in-the-jewish-future/.

Kaplan, Mordecai M. The Future of the American Jew. New York: Macmillan, 1948.

———. Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life. 1934. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2010.

———. Not So Random Thoughts. New York: Reconstructionist Press, 1966.

———. Questions Jews Ask: Reconstructionist Answers. New York: Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1956.

Kaplan, Mordecai M., and Eugene Kohn, eds. Sabbath Prayer Book. New York: Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation, 1945.

Lefin, Menaḥem Mendel, of Satanov. Sefer Ḥeshbon ha-Nefesh. Lemberg: Rubinstein, 1808.

Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood. “Herem Text.” Accessed September 3, 2026. https://kaplancenter.org/herem-text/.

Pulzetti, Maria. “The Sacred Obligations of Liberal Jews: Claiming the Word ‘Religious.’ ” Evolve, October 6, 2025. https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/the-sacred-obligations-of-liberal-jews-claiming-the-word-religious/.

Reconstructing Judaism. “About Reconstructionist Judaism.” Accessed September 3, 2026. https://rrc.edu/reconstructionist-judaism/.

Sasso, Dennis. “On Rabbinical Leadership.” Beit Kaplan: The Rabbinic Partnership for Jewish Peoplehood. Accessed September 22, 2026. https://www.beitkaplan.org/on-rabbinical-leadership.

Schulweis, Harold M. Evil and the Morality of God. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1984.

———. “From God to Godliness: A Proposal for Predicate Theology.” The Reconstructionist, February 1975. Reproduced by Evolve, October 16, 2017. https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/predicate-theology/.

Scult, Mel, ed. The Religious Humanism of Mordecai Kaplan: An Anthology. Mosaic Press and the Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood, 2026. ISBN 9781771619448. https://kaplancenter.org/the-religious-humanism-of-mordecai-kaplan-an-anthology/.

Shuster, Kenneth. “In Favor of a Religious Humanistic Judaism.” Religious Humanism 40, no. 2 (2009): 59–71.

Teutsch, David A. A Guide to Jewish Practice. Vol. 1, Everyday Living. Wyncote, PA: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Press, 2011.

———. “Values-Based Decision Making.” The Reconstructionist, Spring 2001, 22–28. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/files/resources/document/vbdm_reconstruction

Waxman, Deborah, Megan Doherty, Isabel de Koninck, Katie Mizrahi, and Elyse Wechterman. “ ‘Covenantal Community’ and Classical Reconstructionism.” Evolve, April 4, 2025. https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/covenantal-community-and-classical-reconstructionism-talmud/.

Weiner, Benjamin. “Davenning: Finding Meaning in Jewish Prayer.” Evolve, October 29, 2018. https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/davvening-meaning/.

Wine, Sherwin T. Judaism Beyond God. Farmington Hills, MI: Society for Humanistic Judaism, 1985.

Classical Jewish sources

Classical sources are cited by standard division rather than by edition.

Babylonian Talmud. Bava Metzia 32b; Mo’ed Katan 28b; Shabbat 31a.

Hebrew Bible. Exodus 20:10, 23:12; Leviticus 19:17; Deuteronomy 16:18–20; Isaiah 58; Ezekiel 36:26; Job 2:13, 42:7; Zechariah 14:9.

Mishnah. Berachot 4:4; Pirkei Avot 1:6, 2:16.

Shulḥan Aruch. Yoreh De’ah 376:1.