שיח - כנס עולמי של רבנים (1997)

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For Chag Hasemicha (2005)

Let me speak to you about visions – good and bad. A rabbi must have a vision – for himself, his family, his community, and for all the House of Israel. But not all visions are the same. Some inspire and uplift; others mislead and harm. Today we witness two particularly dangerous visions: first, the belief that a rebbe is the messiah – an idea that begins with reverence but can devolve into spiritual confusion and disappointment; and second, the notion, found in some circles of religious Zionism, that we are living in messianic times and that the State of Israel is itself a messianic entity. Both beliefs have led good, sincere people into crises of faith when reality failed to match their hopes. The danger is not vision itself, but vision untested. We must seek vision, but also examine it – not every dream is holy. And yet, there are times when we long for vision and cannot find it, when we feel, in our own bones, that something is missing. As the priestly blessings remind us: chalom chalamti v’eini yode’a mah hu – I have dreamed a dream, but I do not know what it means. Even the yearning for vision needs divine guidance.

Zionism The Rabbinate

כנסת ישראל - תחת כנפי השכינה (1992)

Heard: הלכה, sociology, practiced rabb's, Risslar. Now: השקפה overview. Excess = abandoning maj'y כלל ישראל – CJF: 527. Anyone really do that? – unfort'y: many. Ex: המחנה החרדי ... Belz ... Inclus'ss: = exact opposite... – any lecturing career – to left... Rav Kook: מן המיצר קראתי -ה ענני המרחב -ה. Like Shofar: ציר ורחב... So: עשיר for self – others. So: ברוחניות – Yidd't for self and favr – or: שתת פשט עבודתו בקודש על כל ישראל שיהיו הכל עובדי השי"ת. וישנה מעלה גבוהה יותר – שיתך צף שמו ית' בכל העולם – ובכן תן פחדך...

The Rabbinate

Chag Hasemicha Convocation, Sunday March, 10, 2002

Rabbi Lamm delivers a sermon at the Chag Hasemicha Convocation.

The Rabbinate