I
found this on-line and wanted to share it with you. I wrote my MA thesis on the
work of Rabbi Kaplan, and learned from him privately in Jerusalem in 1976. I
had not seen this text before. It only enhances my appreciation of this great
sage.
THE THIRTEEN WANTS
A prayer composed by Mordecai Kaplan in 1926 for
the dedication of the new headquarters of the Society for the Advancement of
Judaism (SAJ).
1. We want Judaism to help us
overcome temptation, doubt and discouragement.
2. We want Judaism to imbue
us with a sense of responsibility for the righteous use of the blessings
wherewith God endows us.
3. We want the Jew so to be
trusted that his yea will be taken as yea, and his nay as nay.
4. We want to learn how to
utilize our leisure to best advantage, physically, intellectually, and
spiritually.
5. We want the Jewish home to
live up to its traditional standards of virtue and piety.
6. We want the Jewish
upbringing of our children to further their moral and spiritual growth, and to
enable them to accept with joy their heritage as Jews.
7. We want the synagogue to
enable us to worship God in sincerity and in truth.
8. We want our religious
traditions to be interpreted in terms of understandable experience and to be
made relevant to our present-day needs.
9. We want to participate in
the upbuilding of Eretz Yisrael as a means to the renaissance of the
Jewish spirit.
10.
We want Judaism to find rich, manifold and ever new expression in philosophy,
letters and the arts.
11.
We want all forms of Jewish organization to make for spiritual purpose
and ethical endeavor.
12.
We want the unity of Israel throughout the world to be fostered through
mutual help in time of need, and through cooperation in the furtherance of
Judaism at all time.
13.
We want Judaism to function as a potent influence for justice, freedom
and peace in the life of men and nations.
2 comments:
Wow this is beautiful and so contemporary.....it speaks to me and my community as if it had articulated some of our deepest wants right now. Thanks for sharing
This is just beautiful...definitely a keeper! It seems so contemporary and relevant, it's hard to believe it was written in 1926. Thank you for posting this wonderful find.
Post a Comment