The Legacy of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan zt”l
In a sense, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan was a meteor, a dazzling light that illuminated the darkened skies of post-Holocaust Torah learning, but burned out far too soon. With his scientific background, Rabbi Kaplan might have pointed out the inaccuracy of this comparison; more likely, his modesty and unassuming demeanor would have led him to deflect this much-deserved praise. And that, in a nutshell, is the life story of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.
Few, if any, have had a greater impact on the Jewish spiritual awakening often called “the teshuva movement.” While other religious leaders sent out emissaries and still others opened yeshivot, Rabbi Kaplan directly and personally impacted an almost unfathomable number of Jews, primarily through NCSY, but also through his prolific writing.
Rabbi Kaplan’s writings are straightforward and clear, yet profound, with Kabbalistic doctrine always just beneath the surface. His Jewish education did not begin until after his thirteenth birthday, when he was already recognized as a prodigy in the sciences. Rabbi Kaplan attended many NCSY events, often as the keynote speaker, yet he was always accessible, approachable and available to speak to participants and staff.
Rabbi Kaplan eventually coupled his profound understanding of Torah with his scientific background in order to answer the questions that haunted others. Where some saw difficult, contradictory trees and lost sight of the forest of Jewish philosophy, Rabbi Kaplan saw the underlying principles that brought clarity and revelation. In clear, contemporary language, his writings help restore our view of the forest by illustrating how the trees complement one another, how each tree is planted and sustained by the same God. He used scientific tools and his own analytical skills to organize and categorize overwhelmingly vast Jewish sources, creating an invaluable two-volume Torah encyclopedia, The Handbook of Jewish Thought. Even after his tragic, untimely death from a heart attack at the age of 48 in 1983, his written works have accompanied many a ba’al teshuva through the maze of Jewish learning, providing clear, succinct, yet sophisticated explanations and answers.
(Adapted from an article written by Rabbi Ari Kahn, lecturer and author)
NCSY’s Reissuing of the Kaplan Library:
Rabbi Kaplan’s writings were initially commissioned by NCSY in the 1970’s. His writings quickly became the standard for all Jews searching for meaning in their lives. However, over the years, many volumes of his work have gone out of print, and some needed important updates and edits. Rabbi Kaplan reintroduced the eternal ideas of Judaism to the public, so NCSY embarked on this ambitious project to reintroduce the public to Rabbi Kaplan.
The person first responsible for introducing these seminal works to the world was Mr. Joe Tannenbaum, of blessed memory, who sponsored the first book and many of the other books in the Kaplan library. Continuing his legacy, The Tannenbaum Foundation graciously sponsored a large part of the cost in order for NCSY to republish a new and improved version of Rabbi Kaplan’s library.
NCSY has now completed the project by reissuing the entire Kaplan library with new introductions, redesigned covers and updated content, so a new generation can be introduced to the majesty of Jewish ideas and the beauty of Rabbi Kaplan’s prose. Together with Artscroll Publications, the redesign and re-printing effort is creating the ability to place these timeless works into the hands of Jews throughout the world.
Rabbi Kaplan’s incredible legacy continues to directly or indirectly impact and educate all those seeking a deeper understanding of Judaism for themselves or their students. In this sense, we may say that Rabbi Kaplan continues to attend every NCSY event—and the events of countless other organizations across the spectrum of Jewish communal life. It is hard to imagine what the Jewish world would look like today without the legacy of enlightenment, light and warmth Rabbi Kaplan left behind—a meteoric trail of Jewish wisdom.
In this vein, on Thursday evening, December 30th, NCSY will launch the NCSY Aryeh Kaplan Library at the annual Yarchei Kallah celebrating the life and legacy of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. Following a short presentation, teens will divide into one of ten breakout sessions that each correspond to a different volume in the collection.