Associate Professor
Director, Jewish teaching option
Joint appointment with Department of Jewish Studies
eric [dot] caplan [at] mcgill [dot] ca (E-mail)
Phone: 514-398-6544
Room 365, Education Building
Areas of interest
- Philosophy of Jewish education
- Teaching Jewish prayer
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- Contemporary Judaism
- Jewish social activism
Description of research/teaching activities
My research has focused on Reconstructionist Judaism, one of the four main denominations in contemporary Jewish life. Specifically, I have written on its interpretation and adaptation of the traditional liturgy and its creation of new prayer texts and forms of worship, its quest for norms and standards, and its interpretation of Jewish holidays. I am presently beginning a multi-year study of the role of social activism in contemporary Jewish spirituality.
Selected publications/presentations
Caplan, E. (2006) On Reinventing the wheel: Fashioning a Liturgy we can pray with integrity. The Reconstructionist, Fall 2006.
Caplan, E. (2006) What does it imply? How does it apply? Reconstructionist Holiday Editorials, 1935-1955. Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, 24(3). 37-57.
Caplan, E. (2005) Jewish tradition and reconstructionist decision making: Giving tradition a clearer voice. Reconstructionism Today, Winter 2005-2006, 1, 4-6.
Caplan, E. (2004). The dangers of "privatized Jewishness". Reconstructionism Today, Spring-Summer 2004. 14-18.
Caplan, E. (2002). From Ideology to Liturgy: Reconstructionist Worship and American Liberal Judaism. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press.