Kaplan believed that people participate more deeply when a synagogue functions as a genuine community rather than merely a place to attend services. Thus synagogues should evolve from being merely "congregations" into "communities" that meet a wide range of social, educational, cultural, and spiritual needs. In this he is considered the ideological founder of the Jewish community center.

There is much work done on the power of community to bolster the individual - belonging is cornerstone of modern Reconstructionist thinking because if the power of taking part, giving and receiving, sharing and engaging that our communal life offers to us. It is fascinating to see the differences in our synagogues across the world and speculate - is this about local culture, the background of the people that form the congregation, the vision of the leadership, the needs of the moment? In all our holy communities, we see the thriving nature of the enterprise, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks put it: Society is made out of the contributions of many individuals. What they give is unimportant; that they give is essential. Society is what we build together. Community is the place where we learn to speak the language of ‘We’ as well as ‘I’.

This last quote brought to mind Martin Buber and the use of intent to create relationship. A little digging in I and Thou and this quote appeared “All real living is meeting.” — I think Kaplan would appreciate this!