Society for the Advancement of Judaism (New York, N.Y.)

The Society for the Advancement of Judaism, also known as SAJ, is a synagogue and Jewish organization in New York City, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Founded in 1922 by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, the synagogue is affiliated with the Reconstructionist Jewish movement.

The current rabbi is Lauren Grabelle Herrmann, who succeeded Michael Strassfeld on 1 July 2015.[1]

Moshe Nathanson, composer of Hava Nagilah, was Cantor of the SAJ during Kaplan's tenure.

The first American Bat Mitzvah was held at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism on Saturday morning, March 18, 1922, for Judith Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan.[2]

We are proud of SAJ’s radical and pioneering history as a place where intellectual inquiry and ethics meet, where bold ideas are championed, and where attention is paid to the stranger among us and near us. SAJ, now led by a team of women clergy, is proud to say that the first American bat mitzvah took place in our sanctuary on March 8, 1922, when Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s daughter Judith became a bat mitzvah.

In 1922, Dr. Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, one of the most important Jewish thinkers of modern Jewish history, founded the SAJ, originally “The Society for the Advancement of Judaism” after his increasingly bold and controversial ideas could no longer find a home in established Jewish communities. Kaplan, a noted theologian, served for six decades on the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and devoted his life to reconciling Judaism and modern life. Rabbi Ira Eisenstein, Kaplan’s mentee, formed the Reconstructionist movement, to maintain and transmit Kaplan’s ideas.

Kaplan was the first modern Jewish thinker to articulate that Judaism was not just a religion or a culture, rather an evolving religious civilization. Kaplan reminded us that over time and in new places, Jewish tradition has always changed — and that faced with the pressures and demands of modernity, of the need to come to terms with the world of science and reason, Judaism needed to continue to change in order to remain relevant, vibrant, and meaningful to a new generation of Jews. Kaplan also taught that Jews lived in two civilizations, the American civilization and our Jewish civilization. Instead of seeing them at odds with each other, we can draw wisdom from each to support the other.

Kaplan’s radical ideas invited an honest, reflective Judaism instead of an unthinking one. Kaplan questioned traditional notions of God as a supernatural being and commander, arguing that God was instead the force that made for salvation and meaning. Kaplan believed that we should not “check our minds at the door” when we prayed. His 1945 prayerbook, which made liturgical changes that took out references to chosenness and the resurrection of the dead, was met with controversy from the Orthodox community, even banned and burned by some. The Reconstructionist prayerbook Kol HaNeshama (1993) continued Kaplan’s legacy, adding new meaning with its beautiful commentaries.

Over its history, SAJ has been served by Rabbis Ira Eisenstein, Jack Cohen, Alan Miller, Ed Feld, Julie Shoenfeld, and Michael Strassfeld, and is currently led by Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann.

In the 1990s, SAJ began affirming LGBTQ+ members and interfaith families. SAJ also voted to accept patrilineal descent. We now proudly affirm and celebrate all the varied identities of our congregation. In 2017, SAJ’s tagline was renamed “Judaism that Stands for All.” We are a proud part of Reconstructing Judaism.