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Everyday Kaplan
Siegmund Sonneborn, a German-born Jewish industrialist based in Baltimore, 1872-1939, studied at Johns Hopkins and graduated in 1893. Associating himself with the business of his brother-in-law, Henry Sonneborn, he became a director and later president of the concern. Described as a man of liberal views, he is said to have led the way in the abandonment of the old sweatshop system of clothing manufacture and in the establishment of liberal attitudes toward labor. Retiring from active business, he devoted himself to literature and humanitarian enterprises. He aided in establishing many persons in Palestine, and he studied and wrote about the Psalms. Mordecai Kaplan was one of the people privileged to read this work, and penned the letters enclosed. We are fortunate to have them from the hand of Siegmund’s great granddaughter, who sent them with the following note:
I recently found two glowing letters from Mordecai Kaplan regarding the psalms of my great great grandfather in my family's documents in a garage in New Hampshire . The psalms, titled The Book of the Baalshem Mishpat in their final edition, were only published and printed privately, but a number of original prints are still in circulation as well as reprints on Amazon.
Best, Claire
Enjoy the beauty of phrasing and admiration of this first letter - truly inspirational!
Register for the first webinar of our new season!
Reconstructing Hadassah: How Family Influenced Mordecai Kaplan with Sharon Ann Musher
Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Sharon Ann Musher is Professor of History at Stockton University. She writes and teaches social, cultural, and oral history with a focus on the New Deal, Jewish women, and motherhood. Her most recent book is Promised Lands: Hadassah Kaplan and the Legacy of American Jewish Women in Early Twentieth Century Palestine (New York University Press, 2025). Sharon is also the author of Democratic Art: The New Deal’s Influence on American Culture (University of Chicago Press, 2015). Beyond academia, Sharon is on the boards of the Jewish Publication Society and the Living New Deal. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, two of her three daughters, and her dog.
Go to our website to register for and/or sponsor this webinar:
Readers can purchase Sharon Ann Musher's bookPromised Lands fromNYU Pressfor a 30% discount using the code NYUAU30. It’s also available throughAmazonand other major booksellers.
Sharon’s website with links to purchase the book and other events is available at her websitehttps://sharonmusher.com/.
The mission of the Kaplan Center is to disseminate and promote the thought and writings of Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan and to advance the agenda of the Kaplanian approach to Judaism in the 21st century.
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