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November 12, 1981

A Story of Two Loves: Building Jewish Leadership and Jewish Communty (1981)

Jewish Unity Principles of Leadership
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Pluralism and Unity in the Orthodox Jewish Community (1979)

For many years we have been discussing the problem of unity in our ever more heterogenous Jewish community, beset by religious, political, and social tensions. For reasons that will become apparent, it is no simple matter to relate directly all that has been said about the larger Jewish community to the Orthodox community and its inner dynamics. The question of diversity within Orthodoxy theoretically admits of three different solutions. a) "Anything Goes." This is the position of maximum inclusiveness, one which makes up in liberalism what it forfeits in discipline. Essentially, it opts for the freedom for self-definition of what and who is a bona fide Orthodox Jew. As a voluntary community, anyone may enter as freely as anyone may leave it. There are no objective standards for "membership," nor should there be any. The claim to be an Orthodox Jew is self-validating.I do not advocate this position and I know very few who do, and shall therefore not refer to it any further.b) "Only One Way." Unity, a great desideratum, is defined as uniformity. It is asserted that Halacha, by definition, has one answer to every question — the halachic answer. Hence, diversity is essentially inimical to Orthodoxy. This view, which makes up in consistency for what it lacks in communal conscience, is the working assumption of a large part of the Orthodox community. Because of its espousal of homogeneity, it naturally leads to the estab-lishment of clear lines of authority, since there must be some arbiters to enforce uniformity and settle disputes, c) A dialectic of discipline and diversity, a finite pluralism.Because I accept the third approach, let me elaborate upon it by citing an interpretation by Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of what was then Palestine, of the talmudic passage (Beraishis 64a) that "scholars of the Torah increase peace in the world."There are those who, in their quest for peace and harmony, are impatient with scholars. The latter, in exercising their autonomous …
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The Responsibility of Leadership in the American Orthodox Community (1988)

When I was first invited to speak at this Convention, I was unsure of what topic to choose. When I asked the conveners what I should speak about, they gave me two concise answers. First, they said, "speak about 30 minutes." Second, they recommended I speak about "The Responsibility of Leadership in the American Orthodox Community." I shall cheerfully make every effort to accomodate both wise suggestions. The truth is that this theme has engaged and fascinated and worried me for a long time. And I have come to a rather surprising yet significant conclusion which can be summed up by saying that, in addition to and above all else, leadership requires the taking of risks – not only political and financial and social and psychological risks, but also moral risks.There is a remarkable statement by חז״ל which is quoted by Maimonides in his פיה"מ לאבות פ"א מ"ט, although our texts do not carry this dictum as he cites it. It reads: כל מי שהציבור ממנה אותו פרנס מלמטה נקרא רשע למעלה. "One who is appointed to a position of leadership by the community here below, is regarded as wicked up above." A similar thought occurs in the Zohar (III, p.24a). On the verse אשר נשיא יחטא, "if a prince (i.e., a king, a leader) sins," the Zohar adds two words, ודאי יחטא, "he most certainly will sin!" You cannot be a פרנס or a נשיא without being considered a רשע or a חוטא.What a strange thing to say--and what a deterrent to public service on behalf of the community! Granted that some leaders abuse their positions and that others may be neglectful of their duties, is that a reason to say that al 1 leaders are regarded by Heaven as רשעים or חוטאים, as evil or sinful? Do we not bear enough burdens, and is there not enough to discourage us without this added onus placed upon us by the Talmud, the Zohar, and the Rambam What the Rabbis meant, I believe, is this: Leadership involves making hard decisions--or better: dirty decisions, choosing between alternatives neither of which is perfect or clean or p…
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Outline

שעור ליום עיון לכתות הסמיכה (1979)

(1) Major Diff IE, bet – nov + other students are not ת״ח – all of new and, some more/less. Rather – יחיד/רבים... You: about to reupt reopen צבור... (2) hence, miss___ def צבור – theoretically with eye to practical consequences/ 3/ 2 definitions of comm'y – *Jeremy Benthorn: "C = imagine being comprised of indiv. people who considered one organism. The ____ of time thus = sum of ____ of all its constituent members" – is: nominalistic def. *Walter Hyman (e.g.): consider
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Leadership in Jewish Thought (1993)

Rabbi Lamm explores concepts of leadership in Jewish thought.
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