Dovid Kaplan
{{short description|Rabbi, educator, and author}}
{{Infobox Jewish leader
| honorific-prefix = Rabbi
| name = Dovid Kaplan
דוד קפלן
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| yeshiva = Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem
| yeshivaposition = Senior lecturer
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| began = 1987
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| other_post = Mashgiach ruchani, Yeshivas Bais Yisroel, Jerusalem
| birth_name = Dovid Kaplan
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| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois
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| residence = Jerusalem
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| spouse = Tammy
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| alma_mater = Northeastern Illinois University
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Dovid Kaplan ({{Langx|he|דוד קפלן}}) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, kiruv educator, author, and speaker. He is known for his inspirational and humorous storytelling both in his international speaking engagements and in his Impact! series of books.
Early life and education
Kaplan was born in Chicago. He is the grandson of Rabbi Hertzl KaplanKaplan, Dovid. "A Good Word". Hamodia Inyan magazine, August 19, 2020, pp. 6–7. and great-nephew of Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, rosh yeshivas at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois. Kaplan graduated from Fasman Yeshiva High School (the Skokie Yeshiva) in 1976, and attended Northeastern Illinois University. He received rabbinical ordination in Israel.
Career
Kaplan initially embarked on a business career as co-owner of a kosher restaurant in the Chicago area.{{cite web |url=http://m.jle.org.uk/showperson.php?id=19|title=Rabbi Dovid Kaplan|publisher=The Jewish Learning Exchange|access-date=27 September 2014}} In 1987 he switched tracks and became a teacher of Talmud at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem,Levin, Menucha Levin. "Bookshelf: An interview with author Rabbi Dovid Kaplan". Inyan magazine, December 3, 2015, pp. 22-23.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrB7EllYTvkC&pg=PR10|title=Polishing Diamonds: Bringing out the sparkle in our children|year=2005|isbn=965-90652-5-6|publisher=Hamodia Publishing|first=Dovid|last=Kaplan|pages=IX-X}} where he currently serves as senior lecturer.{{cite web |url=http://audio.ohr.edu/showperson/id=6|title=Rabbi Dovid Kaplan|publisher=Ohr Somayach International|access-date=27 September 2014}} He is also a mashgiach ruchani at Yeshivas Bais Yisroel in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem.{{cite web |url= http://baisalumni.com/staff-members/rav-dovid-kaplan-shlita/ |title=Rav Dovid Kaplan, shlit"a|publisher=Yeshivas Bais Yisroel|year=2014|access-date=27 September 2014}}
Kaplan launched his writing career with a 64-page "guidebook" for entry-level Talmud students titled The Ohr Somayach Gemara Companion (2000). In 2003 he compiled a humorous collection of short stories from his work with baalei teshuva at Ohr Somayach titled The Kiruv Files.{{cite web |url= http://www.chareidi.org/archives5763/nitzovim/hkiruv.htm |title= BOOK REVIEW – The Kiruv Files: The stories, the drama, the humor... an inside look|first=Chava|last=Dumas|date=17 September 2003|access-date=27 September 2014|work=Dei'ah VeDibur}} Kaplan saw the book as a tool for baalei teshuva to know "what they should do and, more importantly, what they shouldn't do".
Kaplan began writing a parenting column for Hamodia magazine in the 2000s and collected many of his popular columns into the books Polishing Diamonds: Bringing out the sparkle in our children (2005) and Perfecting Diamonds: Bringing out the sparkle in our children (2008). Since 2006, he has published six titles in the Impact! series of inspirational short stories. Twenty-six of his stories were adapted for children in the 2009 book Impact! for Kids by Leah Subar.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZccCSQAACAAJ|title=Impact! for Kids|first=Leah|last=Subar|publisher=Targum Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1568715285}} He is also active as an international lecturer on Jewish education, parenting, and other subjects.{{cite web|url=http://www.teu.co.il/seder-night-with-rabbi-dovid-kaplan/|title=Seder Night with Rabbi Dovid Kaplan|first=Rabbi Allon|last=Bruckenstein|date=9 April 2014|access-date=27 September 2014|work=The English Update|archive-date=12 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812125408/http://www.teu.co.il/seder-night-with-rabbi-dovid-kaplan/|url-status=dead}} In a 2011 interview, he said he had "about 2,500 stories on file" to use in speeches.{{cite web|url=http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/965/The-Storytellers-Art|title=The Storyteller's Art|first=Michal|last=Eisikowitz|date=13 April 2011|access-date=6 November 2017|work=Mishpacha|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107025856/http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/965/The-Storytellers-Art|url-status=dead}}
Personal
Kaplan and his wife, Tammy,{{cite web |url= http://www.epsteinmemorialchapel.com/obituaries/Celia-Cohen-2/#!/Obituary|title=Obituary for Celia Cohen|date=1 March 2014|access-date=27 September 2014|publisher=Epstein Memorial Chapel}} and their family reside in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem. He is a Kohen.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oohY_3hMFS8C&pg=PA57 |title= Gateway to Judaism: The what, how and why of Jewish Life|first=Mordechai|last=Becher|authorlink=Gateways (organization)#Rabbi Mordechai Becher|year=2005|publisher=Mesorah Publications|isbn= 1422600300|page=57}} (footnote 80)
Bibliography
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4C_nxQEACAAJQ|title=My Wife, My Queen: A No-holds-barred Shalom Bayis Book for Men|year=2019|publisher=Adir Press|isbn=9781988022482}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KezFoAEACAAJ |title=Shabbos Table Impact!: Short stories on the parsha with an immediate message|year=2014|publisher=Israel Bookshop|isbn= 978-1600912870}}
- {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PeiVXwAACAAJ |title=Lasting Impact! 225 short stories with an immediate message|year=2010|publisher=Shanky's Judaica|isbn=978-1600911392 }}
- {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FVxCPwAACAAJ |title=Real Impact! 205 short stories with an immediate lesson|year=2009|publisher=Shanky's Judaica|isbn=978-1600910906 }}
- {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YGQEQgAACAAJ |title=Double Impact!: 348 short stories with an immediate lesson|publisher=Targum Press |year=2009 |isbn= 978-1568715148 }}
- {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ce7ZNwAACAAJ|title=Perfecting Diamonds: Bringing out the sparkle in our children|year=2008|publisher=Feldheim Publishers|isbn= 978-9657371671}}
- {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0oUBk09-sGYC |title=Major Impact!: 285 short stories with an immediate message|publisher=Targum Press |year=2007 |isbn= 978-1568714356}}
- {{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MT0j__oYFLMC |title= Impact!: 230 short stories with an immediate lesson|year=2006|publisher=Targum Press |isbn= 1568713835}}
- {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lrB7EllYTvkC |title=Polishing Diamonds: Bringing out the sparkle in our children|year=2005|isbn=965-90652-5-6|publisher=Feldheim Publishers}}
- {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lthLkIMLVfcC|title=The Kiruv Files |year=2003 |publisher=Targum Press |isbn=1568712359}}
- {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6HZwE1s934C |title=The Ohr Somayach Gemara Companion|year=2000 |publisher=Ohr Somayach|isbn= 1568711719}}
References
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External links
- [http://audio.ohr.edu/showperson/id=6 Free audio downloads by Rabbi Dovid Kaplan]
- [http://www.menuchapublishers.com/excerpts/kiruvfiles.html Excerpt from The Kiruv Files] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715201112/http://www.menuchapublishers.com/excerpts/kiruvfiles.html |date=2014-07-15 }}
{{Ohr Somayach}}
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Category:American emigrants to Israel
Category:Rabbis of Ohr Somayach
Category:Haredi rabbis in Israel
Category:Orthodox Jewish outreach
Category:21st-century rabbis in Jerusalem