Kaplan, Ar´e [Aryeh], Dr. (1934 - 1983), rabbi
Spinadel´, Gdal´ia, translator
Lazar, Berl, Chief Rabbi of Russian Federation
Mir sozdan dlia menia. Vtoroe, ispravlennoe izdanie. Jerusalem, 'Shamir', 5750 (1989). [160 p.]
(Semeinaia biblioteka russkoiazychnogo evereistva [Series])
€15,00
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Small 8 vo, original covers designed by M. Dobrusina.MINT.

Russian edition of 'Collected essays on Jewish Themes' by a prominent American physicist and rabbi with a preface to the Series by Berl Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russian Federation. The Russian edition compiled and edited by G. Rozenshtein.

Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan (1934 - 1983) was a noted American Orthodox rabbi and author known for his 'intimate knowledge of both physics and kabbalah'. He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and mysticism to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and philosophy aimed at non-religious and newly religious Jews. His works are often regarded as a significant factor in the growth of the baal teshuva movement.

Kaplan was born in the Bronx, New York City, to the Sefardi Recanati family of Salonika, Greece. He studied at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn. Kaplan received semicha from some of Israel's foremost rabbinic authorities, including Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel. He earned his bachelor's degree in physics - with highest honors - at the University of Louisville in 1961 and a master's degree in physics at the University of Maryland.

His major influence was Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld (1922–1978), who single-handedly introduced the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov to American shores beginning in the 1950s, inspiring many students at Brooklyn yeshivas, especially Torah Vodaas.

Working together, Kaplan and Rosenfeld translated and annotated Rabbi Nachman's Tikkun (based on the Tikkun HaKlali). At Rosenfeld's suggestion, Kaplan also produced the first-ever English translation of Sichot HaRan ('Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom'), which Rosenfeld edited. He also translated and annotated Until the Mashiach: The Life of Rabbi Nachman, a day-to-day account of Rebbe Nachman's life, for the newly established Breslov Research Institute founded by Rosenfeld's son-in-law, Chaim Kramer.

Kaplan's later writings further explored Hasidut, Kabbalah and Jewish meditation. (Kaplan himself utilized the meditative form of Kabbalah on a daily basis. From 1976 onward, Kaplan's major activity was the translation into English of the recently translated (Ladino into Hebrew, 1967) anthology, Me'am Lo'ez.He also completed The Living Torah, a new translation of the Five Books of Moses and the Haftarot, shortly before his death.

Kaplan was described by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, his original sponsor, as never fearing to speak his mind. 'He saw harmony between science and Judaism, where many others saw otherwise. He put forward creative and original ideas and hypotheses, all the time anchoring them in classical works of rabbinic literature.' His works reflect his physicist training—concise, systematic, and detail-oriented. His works continue to attract a wide readership, and are studied by both novices and the newly religious, as well as by scholars where the extensive footnotes provide a unique resource.

He died suddenly of a heart attack on January 28, 1983, at the age of 48. He was buried on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem, Israel, off Aweiss street, in the part known as 'Agudas Achim Anshei America' 'Chelek Alef' (Portion 1).

References:
Academic papers
Oneda, S.; Kim, Y.S.; Kaplan, L.M. (1964). 'Final-state interactions in η 0 → 3π decay'. Il Nuovo Cimento 34 (3): 655–664.
Kaplan, L.M.; Resnikoff, M. (November 1967). 'Matrix Products and the Explicit 3, 6, 9, and 12-j Coefficients of the Regular Representation of SU(n)'. Journal of Mathematical Physics 8: 2194–2205.

See also: 'Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, 48, Dies; Wrote Books on Jewish Topics'. The New York Times. 1983-02-02. Retrieved 2010-04-17.