nationality

American

occupation / innovator as

translator

essayist

Rabbi

religion

Orthodox Judaism

philosopher

diarist

Conservative Judaism

university teacher

innovator in the field of

sociology of religion

Chief Rabbi

is an impersonal force which, as a force, cannot command anything. God is anything which saves us from the limitations and frustrations of life.

Using our everyday experiences, he defines God as 'the power that makes for salvation,' that is, the forces within nature and our own human experiences that actualize potential in both nature and people. 'Salvation' here does notmean saving from sin, as Christians think that Jesus does... it rather means saving from the limitations and frustrations of life from illness, poverty, ignorance, immorality, prejudice, etc. So God is the force that transforms the acorn into the oak tree, a bad baseball player into a good one, and an immoral person into a moral one. God is also the natural force that created the universe in the first place and enables it to continue functioning.

Mordecai KaplanThinkers

Mordecai Kaplan