Rabbi Kaplan

Larry Kaplan is a native of Philadelphia and was active as a teenager in USY and Camp Ramah in the Poconos. His first encounter with Temple Israel in Wilkes-Barre was in the summer of 1972 when a busload of campers joined their friend (now Rabbi) Charles Popky in helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes. Years later, as a Ramah counselor, he recalls saying to his friends on a day off spent at the Wyoming Valley Mall, "Can you believe people actually live here!?"

Rabbi Kaplan is married to Gerri, who is the principal of the Temple Israel Hebrew school. They have seven children: Dana, 26, Daniel, 23, Ilan, 19 (currently serving as a United States Marine), Nicole, 16, Ashley, 12, Micah, 11, and Saraea, 5. They are foster parents to a five month old. There are usually other children in their home as well, and after a while it gets difficult to keep track. Rabbi Kaplan was chosen as the Citizen's Voice Person of the Year for 2007, and Gerri and he were honored as one of the national Points of Light. The Kaplans were honored with a community service award from Jewish Family Service in 2007, and in May of 2008 with the distinguished service award from the Luzerne Foundation. You can get a glimpse of his home life at http://tinyurl.com/2cdc88

Rabbi Kaplan received his BA in Judaic Studies from Brandeis University and his Masters and Rabbinic Ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1987. He has served pulpits in Hartford and Miami before coming to Wilkes-Barre. His decision to move his family from Miami to Northeast Pennsylvania was based on two factors. First, he missed his snow blower. The second was what he saw in the Times-Leader when he came to interview. For two days the headlines were about how the students at the Bishop O'Reilly High School, who had been disrespectful during a visit from an official from the Scranton Diocese. The principal decided to cancel the junior prom as a consequence. Local radio stations arranged an alternate prom for the students, but angry listeners convinced them to let the students suffer the consequences of their behavior. Rabbi Kaplan decided to move his family from headlines about murders and violent crimes committed daily in Miami, to headlines about the cancellation of junior proms in Wilkes-Barre.

Rabbi Kaplan sits on the boards of many local organizations, including the Interfaith Council, The Downtown Ministerium, Family Service Association, Step By Step, and the Diamond City Partnership. He is past chair of the advisory board of Luzerne County Children and Youth Services.

Rabbi Kaplan has taught Jewish History at Wyoming Seminary and Old Testament at Kings College . He is also the Jewish Chaplain at the Wilkes-Barre VA Hospital, and is an instructor for the Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program there. He is also the Jewish Chaplain at the Dallas State Correctional Institution.

Rabbi Kaplan has been serving Temple Israel since 1998 and has enjoyed being its spiritual leader. The most important lesson he has learned is that a congregation rich in history and steeped in tradition takes change very slowly, and he has patiently helped Temple Israel to enhance its worship and experience new trends in Jewish education and programming. He is happy that the congregation has been supportive of adding music to services and participates in almost yearly missions to Israel. He tries to be as accessible as possible to all members of the congregation, the community and anyone visiting our Temple or the website.

If you would like to talk with Rabbi Kaplan by phone or e-mail, please contact him at the Temple office, 570-824-8927 or at rabbi@templewb.org

Temple Schedule

• Minyan - Monday and Thursday Mornings 7:15 a.m.
• Minyan - Sunday Mornings 8:00 a.m.
• Minyan - Every Afternoon at 5:15 p.m.
• Shabbat Services - Saturday Morning 9:30 a.m.