Talk:Aryeh Kaplan

message: What is the source for this new biographical material? Fintor 19:35, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I posted a message on the anon's talk page User talk:69.115.119.92, but I doubt there will be an answer.  (In case you were wondering- his IP indicates that he uses Optimum Online in Hicksville, NY).  You can either add a  after the added material or add  to the top of the page or section.  If you think that the added material is false, remove it. Jon513 20:02, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

text: BTW, do you know at what University he studied? Fintor 20:01, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: also, the name of the Conservative Shul? Fintor 20:18, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Source

message: The deletionist Hebrew Wikipedia has put the Hebrew version of the Aryeh Kaplan article up for deletion. Once deleted it can probably never be written again. Anyone who has a significant Hebrew account there (you need 100 edits) should vote to keep; others can express dismay in the discussion; English is OK. Dovi 11:34, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Hebrew Deletion

message: Can you please add the name of the congregation in Dover NJ?--Jayrav 13:12, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Dover NJ

message: Does anyone know which college and graduate school R' Kaplan attended. And did he attend them after or before recieving semicha in Israel?
I looked through some of his college papers recently, and I recall seeing "University of Maryland" on one of the notebooks, but that's hardly definitive. Maslen (talk) 11:51, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  College 

message: I think he died young (60) in a car crash. Can anyone verify?Wolf2191 02:57, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: he was 48 when he died.  The article says he died "suddenly" but does not give any detail.  I was unable to find any more information about his death online.  Jon513 16:44, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Death 

message: This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 09:43, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  WikiProject class rating

message: He might have been born Kaplan, but the family had a different surname when they arrived in the U.S.  What is it?  Also, his original name was Leonard.  Although born in the Bronx, his formative years were spent in Memphis.  It would be nice to have more authoritative information about this part of his life. -- kosboot (talk) 03:43, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: According to what I was told by a few people who knew him, his original surname was pronounced Carmona (car-moan-uh).
And a little tidbit - back when the family lived in Albany (and perhaps for all times before then), the family used 'American' names. The oldest children all grew up with those 'American' names, like "Joey", "Abbie", and "Debbie". After they moved to Brooklyn, the names were all switched to 'Jewish' ones, and the younger children were known as "Shimmy", "Reuven", "Chaim", and "Rochel". That might explain the switch from Leonard to Aryeh a bit. -- Maslen (talk) 07:12, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text:  Follow-up. On page vii of his Passover Hagaddah, he writes the following: "A number of people have inquired about the parenthesized "Carmona" after my name. This was the original family name of my paternal grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Kaplan (Carmona). The name denotes the place from which out family originated, a city in southern Spain, not far from Seville. Upon arriving in the United States around the turn of the century my grandfather changed his name to the more Ashkenazic sounding Kaplan for business reasons." -- Maslen (talk) 02:01, 21 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  Is it possible that Rabbi Yosef Kaplan (Carmona) is the same Joseph Carmona mentioned here: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4054-carmona ? Maslen (talk) 14:01, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
replies: text:  I researched the genealogy of that family and did not find any connection to Joseph Carmona. Maslen (talk) 02:50, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

text: Regarding Memphis - I asked Aryeh Kaplan's son Joey Kaplan and he said that he never lived in Memphis. Maslen (talk) 02:50, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Biographical information 

message: Does anyone have any information about his time in Albany?
I know that it was Conregation Ohav Sholom (there are haggadah's with his name, the shul, and Albany printed on them), and that he was there ~1970.
The blog for the shul also mentions it: http://ohav100.blogspot.com/2010/11/history-time-line.html
Maslen (talk) 18:17, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Time in Albany 

message: Does anyone think that his academic papers in physics should be included in the wiki page?
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Publication/19683978/final-state-interactions-in-0-3-decay
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Publication/54685543/matrix-products-and-the-explicit-3-6-9-and-12-j-coefficients-of-the-regular-representation-of
Maslen (talk) 20:04, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Of course. I'll put them under "Works". Yoninah (talk) 23:21, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Academic Papers 

message: I heard that he had some paychecks from the National Bureau of Standards. It appears that the newspaper article from the Mason City Globe Gazette confirms this as well:
"Following his ordination he was engaged in religious teaching at Eliahu Academy in Louisville. He accepted position with the US Bureau of Standards in Washington and continued his education as a predoctoral student in research grants from the National Science Foundation and the US Air Force"
Does anyone know if it would be possible to find out what he did there?
Maslen (talk) 19:09, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) 

message: I've been digging through the NSF records to find some information about the fellowships he received.
So far, it appears that he received a graduate fellowship to study Chemistry in 1960 and 1961 while in the Bronx, and a cooperative graduate fellowship to study Physics in 1963 while in Hyattsville, Maryland.
For future readers, here are the particular locations
* Third to last line of the left side on PDF page 25 (says 285 in the footer) https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1960/annualreports/ar_1960_appendix_e.pdf 
* About halfway down the right column on PDF page 27 (says 298 in the footer) https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1961/annualreports/ar_1961_appendix_e.pdf
* 3/4 of the way down the left side on PDF page 19 (says 322 in the footer) https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1963/annualreports/ar_1963_appendix_e.pdf
Maslen (talk) 19:33, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fellowships 

message: He has a shaaleh in the Igros Moshe:
שו”ת אגרות משה אורח חיים חלק א סימן צח
בע”ב שרוצים לעשות מנין עבור חינוך הילדים וברור שיבואו במאשינעס /במכוניות/ בשבת י”ג תמוז תשט”ו. מע”כ ידידי הרב מהר”ר אריה משה אלי’ קאפלאן שליט”א.
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=916&pgnum=159
Thanks to Ari Kahn @ http://kavvanah.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/lost-rabbi-aryeh-kaplan-part-ii/ for providing that information
Maslen (talk) 19:47, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: see Igross Moshe, followup below. Pi314m (talk) 10:41, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Igros Moshe 

message: I had some communication with Keith Martin, a Research Librarian at NIST.
"Leonard Martin Kaplan worked at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) for only a short period, so while I did find some information on him there really wasn’t a whole lot.  According to his entry in the 1979 edition of the biographical directory Who’s Who in the East (attached), he was a physicist  at NBS from 1961-1963, in charge of magnetohydrodynamics research.  This time period corresponds to his graduate work at the University of Maryland, so it appears he worked at NBS as a graduate student.  That is fairly common and we still have grad students working here today. I checked the old NBS staff directories for the early 1960s and Kaplan first appears in the directory of February 1962. He was not in the previous edition of the directory published in May 1961. So he arrived at NBS sometime after May 1961. The last directory his name is listed in is January 1963. He does not appear in the next published edition of November 1963. The directories indicate he worked in the Fluid Mechanics Division, which matches up with the magnetohydrodynamics research listed in the Who’s Who.  The directories also note his office was in the Hydraulics Building. A photo of the Hydraulics Building from the old NBS Washington, D.C. campus is attached. That building, and the entire NBS D.C. campus, was torn down in the 1980s. Not sure how familiar you are with D.C., but the building would have been just off of Tilden St. in the Van Ness section of northwest Washington. Roughly where the backyard of the Embassy of Bahrain stands now. I think you can actually see the remaining outline of the location in Google Maps Satellite view: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.940998,-77.065331,428m/data=!3m1!1e3. There are trees between Tilden St. to the south and the Embassy of Bahrain to the north. Right in the center of those trees is a rectangular open grassy area. Based on aerial photos we have of the old campus that grassy area is  probably the spot where the Hydraulics Building was. I checked our publications but didn’t find any papers authored by Kaplan while he was at NBS.
 
Hope that helps. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance."
In my response, I wrote:
"The research highlights (1961 and 1962 [plaintext: 1961, 1962]) contain a few mentions of magnetohydrodynamics. Is it possible to find out which projects he specifically was working on?"
Keith Martin responded:
"Good find on the research highlights!  I had actually looked at those (in print) but only under the Fluid Dynamics section, which didn’t mention magnetohydrodynamics. The 1962 research highlights mentions the magnetohydrodynamics work was important to NASA. I noticed L.M. Kaplan’s 1965 and 1966  physics papers (published after he left NBS) were funded by the Air Force. Seems like the Air Force and NASA would be interested in the same type of work.  So the 1962 description most likely describes what he was working on."  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Maslen (talk • contribs) 00:24, 28 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Correspondence with Keith Martin, Research Librarian at NIST 

message: Editing the page is becoming more difficult, because of all the inline references. There are also several references that are used multiple times, which is easier to maintain with list-defined references. Unless somebody objects, I plan to convert this article to using list-defined references within the next few days. If you have an opinion on the matter, please voice it now.
Maslen (talk) 01:15, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Converting to List-defined References 

message: Below is a message I received from Deanna Landry, Executive Assistant of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
"Leonard Martin Kaplan was initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at University of Louisville in 1961"
Maslen (talk) 16:45, 11 November 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Honors Societies 

message: Below is a quote from Religion and drugs. Does anyone think this should be included in the article?
"Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, a prominent researcher of Jewish meditations, mentions in his books LSD and mescaline as a source of positive spiritual experience. He suggested that some medieval Kabbalists used some psychedelic drugs, though it was discouraged by the more conservative mystics.Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditaion, p. 27Aryeh Kaplan, Meditation and Kabbalah, p. 156 Indeed, one can find in Kabbalistic medical manuals cryptic references to the hidden powers of mandrake, harmal and other psychoactive plants, though the exact usage of these powers is hard to decipher.
According to Aryeh Kaplan, cannabis was an ingredient in the Holy anointing oil mentioned in various sacred Hebrew texts.  The herb of interest is most commonly known as kaneh-bosem (קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם) which is mentioned several times in the Old Testament as a bartering material, incense, and an ingredient in Holy anointing oil used by the high priest of the temple. Many Rastafarians, who use cannabis as a sacrament, identify as Jewish."
Maslen (talk) 23:38, 11 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Well it's incorrect to state that "according to Aryeh Kaplan" cannabis was an ingredient etc. In the source cited (p. 442), Kaplan merely notes that "some [emphasis added] identify Keneh bosem with the English and Greek cannabis, the help plant," and that their identification is on account of "cognate pronunciation and Septuagint readings." What more, this comment by Kaplan is at the end of a much longer paragraph with other, and more convincing, identifications of Keneh bosem. Contributor613 (talk) 02:57, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Religion and Drugs 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I submitted a FOIA request to NIST for the following:
* Materials related to Kaplan's employment at NBS including start and end dates.
* Materials related to Kaplan's work products at NBS.
* The names and descriptions of projects Kaplan was assigned to or contributed to.
NIST responded with: 
"NIST has no documents that are responsive to your request" and recommended contacting the National Records Center (https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Maslen (talk • contribs) 16:56, 27 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  FOIA Request to NIST (FOIA# DOC-NIST-2019-000023) 

message: For reference: 
KAPLAN, LEONARD MARTIN (ARYEH), writer, theologian; b. Bronx, N.Y., Oct. 23, 1934; s. Samuel and Fanny (Lackman) K Rabbi, Rabbinical Coll., Mir, Jerusalem, 1956; B.S. summa cum laude, U. Louisville, 1961; M.S., U. Md., 1963; m. Tobie Leah Goldstein, June 13, 1961; children-Joseph M., Ronald M., Abigail F., Deborah H., L. Micah, Rochel L., Reuben Y., Shimeon Y., Haim Simhah. Ordained rabbi, 1956; physicist, head magnetohydronamics projects Nat. Bur. Standards, Washington, 1961-63; NSF fellow U. Md., 1963-64; rabbi Adas Israel, Mason City, Iowa, 1964-66, B'nei Sholom, Blountville, Tenn., 1966-67, Adath Israel, Dover, N.J., 1967-69; chaplain State U. N.Y., Albany, 1969-71; Hunter and Baruch colls., 1971-72; asso. editor Intercom, publ. Assn. Orthodox Jewish Scientists, N.Y.C., 1972-73; editor Jewish Life, publ. Union Orthodox Jewish Congregations Am., 1973-74; dir. publs. Nat. Conf. Synagogue Youth, N.Y.C., 1974-75; freelance writer, lectr., 1975-; author: Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom, 1973; God, Man and Tefillin, 1973, Russian transl., 1976; Maimonides' Principles, 1973; Hashkafa Series, 5 vols., 1973, 74; The Real Messiah, 1974; Day of Eternity, 1974; Love Means Reaching Out, 1975; The Waters of Eden, 1976, Dutch transl., 1978, French and German transls., 1978; The Way of God, 1977; The Torah Anthology, 5 vols., 1977; The Laws of Čhanukah 1977; translator; The Bahir (Rabbi Nehuniah ben Hakanah), 1978; contbr. articles to profl. jours. founder, 1st dir. Collegiate Youth for Torah, N.Y.C., 1972-73. Mem. Am. Phys. Soc., Rabbinical Council Am. Founding editor Jewish Student, 1975-. Home: 4804 16th Ave Brooklvn NY 11204 2 5 Ayil676 (talk) 15:40, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Text of Who’s who 

message: In the YatedNe’eman Newspaper, Jan 25, 2013, page 55-56 there appears the following:
Any [public] records of this?
At one point, at a very young age, he was the wrestling champion of New York State, a fact he dis- closed to his friend and one-time co-counselor, Rabbi Mendelson, in camp one summer when the latter questioned him about the wrestling skills he had displayed during a night activity. Rabbi Kaplan had been appointed one night to be the leader of the night activity, and he showed up without any supplies or props all. He just sauntered in, to the amazement of all the campers and the staff members. Then, he threw out the question, "What would you do if you were walking on the street and hoodlum attacked you in a headlock?" He then proceeded to demonstrate and explain the swift sleight of hand that allows one free himself from a powerful headlock. Ayil676 (talk) 15:47, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wrestling Champion of New York STATE 

message: The Hebrew Wiki's opening sentence says "a Jewish - American Orthodox rabbi who decided, following the influx of many Jews into meditative practices of the Eastern teachings, to clarify the relationship between meditation and Judaism." Rabbi Kaplan's monument says "he was successful at doing Kiruv."  Part of that, four years before his passing, was to clarify what he saw as the matter of (then) 5738 vs. "billions of years." To restate from Rabbi Kaplan's stated 5738/1979 (now 5780), (available at https://www.simpletoremember.com/faqs/Kaplan-SimpleToRemember.com.pdf) there's "creation in thought" about which he ended on ".. discussed centuries ago, and as long as we keep a firm grounding in our seforim ha-kadoshim and our sacred texts there are really no conflicts." (To which those who are not looking for conflicts should simply answer: YeHi Zichro BaRuch - may his memory be blessed/for a blessing). 
Due to Wiki policy to not give overdue weight, the article's focus on the rabbi's many writings should not give overdue weight to HIS works on this topic.((Advisory note: one of the editors, in his weblog writings, mentioned that some of those weblog content, are already in Wikipedia. Caveat.)) Pi314m (talk) 22:13, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Rabbi Kaplan's "billions"

message: In 1952, the famous Mir Yeshiva (Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn) hadn't been built. Those who came from/thru Shanhai were dispersed in several locations. Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz, grandfather of the present Rosh Yeshiva, was collecting funds. Meanwhile, out in Los Angeles, Rav Simcha Wasserman was building one there. He asked Rav Gedalia Schorr of Torah Vodaas to give him a nucleus. Rav Kaplan was among them, so that would make him an 18 year old Torah Vodaas student at the time, not a Mir/Brooklyn student.
: I've heard mention of Rabbi Wasserman's yeshiva in LA, but I haven't been able to find any records of that. Do you have any additional information or sources you could add about that? I'd really appreciate it Maslen (talk) 01:08, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: The article's footnote on the sentence is p. 13 @ https://ohr.edu/special/ravweinbach/RememberingRavWeinbach.pdf 
Pi314m (talk) 01:43, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thank you! Maslen (talk) 01:53, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: 1952 Los Angeles, not Mir Brooklyn

message: Although Aryeh Kaplan includes three citations by Alan Brill as the third of three sentences in the bullet-point for The Handbook of Jewish Thought (sentence#3 begins "A chapter titled), the wording "the Memphis raised southerner" atop https://kavvanah.blog/2012/01/30/aryeh-kaplan-a-lost-homily-from-his-d-c-pulpit-and-outreach-at-suny-albany is clearly incorrect.
There are both a South Brooklyn and a South Bronx in Rabbi Kaplan's native New York City; see elsewhere in this Talk Page re "he never lived in Memphis." As of this writing the name "Memphis" is accordingly omitted from the wiki article. The link to the incorrect "the Memphis raised southerner" wording is here in the Talk Page in case it contains (or links) helpful information. Pi314m (talk) 01:39, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Not Memphis, not Southern-raised

message: Above, Igross Moshe has a section re R'Kaplan's R'Moshe question regarding youth prayer sessions where the father drives them to shul
on Shabbos. The answer is a definite NO, but R'Moshe suggests speaking to youngsters, ONE AT A TIME/IN PRIVATE (emphasis added) so that those few who walk can have positive influence on the rest. Interesting is the timing on Rabbi Kaplan's question. His Semicha was June 1956, yet this question's date is July 1955, a year prior.
Also of note: this was before Rabbi Kaplan took on a series of 	positions at Conservative places; he apparently never was Rabbi at an Orthodox shul. A google of the operant description of R'Moshe/Igros (cut/paste of the Hebrew for Igros Moshe Orach Chaim Chelek Aleph
Siman TzadiChess (1:98) found six hits. Two were for YU Torah, one for https://kavvanah.blog/2012/01/30/lost-rabbi-aryeh-kaplan-part-ii (Lost Rabbi Ayeh Kaplan part II), one for NLEresources, one for Rabbi Ari Kahn's Blogspot, and #6 is Talk:Aryeh Kaplan.
Of interest is Rabbi Kahn telling at entry#s 7-9 of his 2 talks at YU in 2012 on this matter.	This Igros Moshe info belongs in the Wiki article. Pi314m (talk) 10:37, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Igros Moshe, followup

message: Just a note that the entire "Mentor influence" subsection doesn't really belong under the "Bibliography" section. Since most of the subsection has nothing to do with mentor influence, moving this to elsewhere in the article is a job for someone with time and patience to parse through, edit, and properly organize the material. I'm going to try to make a dent in this, but am hoping someone will further polish this and the entire article, especially as concerns quantity. For example, from all of Rabbi Kaplan's works I'm sure there's plenty of material that can serve as sources for a "Rabbinic Approach" section (or something like that) - just need someone intimately familiar with his works to work on such an outline. Contributor613 (talk) 02:10, 1 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: On further examination, "Mentor influence" doesn't appear to merit a prominent place in this article. The sole reference for this doesn't state that Kaplan's major influence was Rosenfeld. What that article does state in connection with Kaplan is the following: Rabbi Rosenfeld approached Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan — a prolific author and brilliant talmid chacham, whose works are regarded as a significant factor in the growth of the baal teshuvah movement — and asked him to translate two fundamental Breslov seforim, Shevachei Haran and Sichos Haran, which comprise a basic introduction to Rebbe Nachman’s life as well as his main teachings in a simple, straightforward manner. Rabbi Rosenfeld edited the manuscript, which he published as Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom. Contributor613 (talk) 02:34, 1 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article organization 

message: I happened to come across this PDF of the Jewish Observer from April 1977, in which Aryeh Kaplan wrote an article titled "Rabbi Yaakov Culi, Author of MeAm Loez, Champion of the Common Man": https://agudah.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/JO1977-V12-N05.pdf
It does not have additional biographical information, but it's possible some of the other Jewish Observer articles might.
Maslen (talk) 20:32, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Jewish Observer Articles 

message: Many articles describe Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan as a genius. Is there any basis for including that in the article?
The only tidbit I've seen mentioned in his own books (Jewish meditation) is:
> I recall that when I was in yeshivah, a few friends and I decided to have a contest to see who could memorize the most pages of Talmud. For me, it was an interesting experience. The first page took considerable effort and time, perhaps several hours. As I continued, each page became progressively easier. Eventually, after ten pages or so, I found that I could memorize a page after three or four readings. By the time I had gone through some twenty pages, I could memorize a page with a single reading. What had originally been extremely difficult had become relatively easy. My friends reported the same experience
and his own mention of his eclectic interests in painting, science, and religion.
A third party wrote on https://mishpacha.com/a-living-torah/ : 
> Dan Butler recalls Rabbi Stolper’s description of how it looked when Rabbi Kaplan worked on Me’am Loez. “He’d sit in front of his typewriter, with the Me’am Loez in Ladino on one side of him and the Hebrew version on the other side, and he’d look from one to the other and back again, comparing and contrasting and typing away furiously the entire time.”
Maslen (talk) 03:45, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: There's no need for it. Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are described this way in their articles, but not Rabbi Akiva, Maimonides or Galileo. There are a lot of 'very smart people' articles which don't have it, so I wouldn't recommend it here either. StonyBrook babble 08:54, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Genius?