Exchange with Advice for Someone Leaving Rabbinical Field (1967)

1. Correspondent Q to R. Lamm (Jan. 6, 1967)

View The Text

This content is currently available in its original PDF format. As we expand the library, we plan to add a text version as well.

Next Letter

Exchange with Jeffrey Krulwich about Suggestions for Youth Shabbat Sermon (1966)

Dear Rabbi Lamm: I have enclosed a rough draft of the sermon I propose to give on Youth Shabbat. Selecting a topic was not an easy task. I do not want to give a "we-youth-look-to-you-adults-for-guidance-and-we-are-grateful" talk. While there is nothing wrong or insincere in that theme, I feel that as long as I am taking the time to prepare a talk I should make it on a subject I feel is interesting, and rarely spoken on. I have no delusions, however, that whatever I say will significantly alter many people's behavior. Briefly, my point is as follows: Many Jewish students entering college come upon a non-Jewish environment for the first time. The training these students have received and how they view Judaism will strongly affect their religious lives. The "proper training", in my opinion, is one that emphasizes the warmth and beauty of Judaism rather than sheer rituals and observance. Jeff Krulwich

The Rabbinate

Exchange with R. Schwarzschild about Invitation to Join Discussion on Rabbinic Training (1969)

Dear Norman, On Sunday, May 25, at 2:00 P.M., at the Stephen Wise Congress House, 15 East 84th Street, New York City, JUDAISM is calling together a group of interested people associated with our journal to discuss “The Future of Rabbinic Training in America.” Dr. Daniel Jeremy Silver, rabbi of The Temple, Cleveland, and president of the National Foundation of Jewish Culture, will lead off our deliberations; and we are inviting several men to respond, not so much to his suggestions as to their own view of the problem in general. We would be most honored to have you among our discussants. After a five-minute statement from each respondent—a summary of Dr. Silver’s presentation will be made available in advance—there will be a general confrontation of views, in the presence of an invited audience. The proceedings will be taped, as is our practice, with a view toward publication in the journal. I do not have to tell you of the crisis in rabbinic education (pointed up by Dr. Charles Liebman’s lead article in the current American Jewish Yearbook), but I must beseech your cooperation in helping us to bring insight and concern to bear upon our dilemmas. I believe that with your cooperation we can focus the issues for the greater benefit of the American Jewish community. I hope you will accept our invitation, and I look forward to hearing from you. With all best wishes for a chag kasher ve-sameach, Cordially, Steven

The Rabbinate