Reaching Out

by Aryeh Kaplan

We live in a time when an alarming and growing majority of our youth is being lost through intermarriage, assimilation and general alienation. When reports tell us that 80% of our youth never go to synagogue, even on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, something is dramatically wrong. When we find that almost half of our youth are intermarrying, then we know we are faced with a problem of awesome dimensions. But what are we going to do about it? One of the serious problems has been the isolation of the Torah community as well as its inability to cope with the problems of American Jewry at large. There are some concerned groups, but they represent only a very small portion of Torah Jewry's resources. But from a Torah view every Jew as a distinct obligation to look out for the spiritual benefit of his brethren. There is a commandment in the Torah, "You must correct your neighbor." This commandment gives us a definite obligation to speak up when we see other Jews going astray. There is the concept that "All Israel are responsible for the other." There is the teaching that, "Anyone who has the opportunity to protest (wrongdoing), and does not do so, is caught up in the sin." This book points out our obligations as set forth by the greatest Torah authorities. Each section speaks of a different aspect of this problem, and is followed by a number of readings presenting a translation of these ideas in the original. Every one of us must find his or her way to respond to the unspoken cry for help that is in the hearts, if not on the lips, of our estranged brethren.

85 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

Born in New York City.
Rabbi and Physicist.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan ZT"L was a world-well-known author. In his short lifetime he wrote over over 50 books. He was born in the Bronx, New York City, and studied to the local Yeshiva. He later continued his training at different Yeshivot in Israel. As a graduate student, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan was described in a scientific "Who's Who" as the most promising young physicist in America. When he decided to devote his overflowing heart and massive intellect to the writing and teaching of traditional Torah values, the Jewish people gained a prolific and brilliant expositor with the uncommon gift of analyzing and presenting the most complex ideas in accessible terms. And when he passed away suddenly at the age of 48 with decades of productive activity still ahead of him, Jewry lost a priceless, irreplaceable treasure.

Aryeh Kaplan left a legacy of the thousands of people whom he touched and elevated, and of the scores of books and papers that flowed from his pen. "The Aryeh Kaplan Reader" is a collection of his essays reflecting the broad range of his interest and genius. From biography to Kabbalah, from contemporary movements to cosmic speculation, Aryeh Kaplan was at home. His writing is original and incisive. But most of all, it is always clear and to the point. Every appetite for Jewish themes will be whetted and satisfied by this book. True, to read this collection is to feel a keen sense of loss at the premature passing of a bright star in the Jewish literary firmament. But it is an intensely satisfying experience as well, because this book is crammed with substance and enlightenment. We put it down enriched by the intellectual company of Aryeh Kaplan, and grateful for this "gift he left behind. He died in 1983 at the young age of 48 years. May his memory be for a blessing.
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