Dana Evan Kaplan is Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley in Sun City, Arizona. He was ordained as a rabbi by Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. He holds a Ph.D. in American Jewish history from Tel Aviv University. He has led congregations in the United States, Jamaica, South Africa, Australia, and Israel, and has taught in several colleges and universities. Kaplan has written numerous articles and academic papers on a diverse range of topics relating to Judaism, and participates in various programs, think tanks, and conferences to understand the history and theology of Judaism and to discuss ways to reinterpret it as a vibrant religion for the twenty-first century. He has written three books, The New Reform Judaism (Jewish Publication Society), Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal (Columbia University Press), and American Reform Judaism: An Introduction (Rutgers University Press) and edited four volumes: A Life of Mea