York alum returns to launch biography on American Jewish thinker Horace Kallen

A biography exploring the life of American Jewish thinker Horace M. Kallen will be celebrated during a launch event held at the Israel & Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University on Sept. 15.

The book, Horace Kallen Confronts America: Jewish Identity, Science, and Secularism, is written by Rabbi Matthew Kaufman, a York alumni and reconstructionist rabbi.

This intellectual biography explores the thought and career of Kallen, revealing how his views on science, secularism and religion made on impact on authors, publishers, editors and readers, offering a new lens through which to examine Jewish identity and American pluralism.

Kaufman received a PhD in humanities from York University and has served reconstructionist, reform, and conservative Jewish communities in the United States and Canada for more than 20 years.

The event takes place at 2 p.m. on the seventh floor of the Kaneff Tower at York University. Admission is free, but seats are limited. There will be a kosher (dairy) reception to follow.

RSVP to the event by emailing cjs@yorku.ca.