"Professor Mordechi Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism, formulated his approach to Judaism in the nineteen-thirties. In his day, pragmatism was at the core of how he approached Jewish peoplehood. He said that having a building whose only use was as a shul wasn't practical and that what was needed was a beit k'nesset / multipurpose gathering place. Instead of building a "temple", build a Beit Am, a Jewish Center. In the building, there should be a place where liturgy is celebrated, but don't use that space only for prayer. Use it for concerts and lectures; have folding doors so part of the room can be a social hall and even include a gym. This was his way of deconstructing and then reconstructing. And, while this was useful and was implemented as Jews moved to suburbs, something was missing. This was the feeling we get walking into a church where there is an aroma of incense in a room which is softly lit, with stained glass windows and a light near the alter. It's a space where you walk on tiptoe and whisper. That sense sense of awe and mystery when entering a sanctuary was no longer there. In simple terms, this was because Reconstructionism was a low ceiling and doesn't deal comfortably with higher and spiritual things. When asked what G-d means, Professor Kaplan would say that G-d is the guarantor of values. Now this is a good and true thing as far it goes, but notice how social it is and how it doesn't talk about spirtuality. "G-d is the power that makes for salvation" was the highest level to which he could go, but what salvation meant to him was to live a good life here on earth, without any reference to what is beyond our individual lives".
Ref: pages 20-21, Integral Halacha
