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Correspondence

January 1967

Exchange with Dr. Hacohen about Attack on R. Jakobovits in The Jewish Chronicle (1967)

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1. Dr. Hacohen to R. Lamm

1. Dr. Hacohen to R. Lamm (Jan. 9, 1967)

1. Dr. Hacohen to R. Lamm (Jan. 9, 1967)

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Exchange with Dr. Fox about Offer to Become Principal of Jews College (1962)

Dear Marvin: Not having corresponded with you in a long time, I should probably begin with the usual social amenities. Please, therefore, consider them exchanged, executed, and done with. The reason for my writing is to make a confidential inquiry of you. You know the complicated situation that prevails in England with regard to the Principalship of Jews College. The situation is quite critical, and the right man in that position can, by a kind of chain reaction, have a profound effect on the future course of Anglo-Jewry. I am anxious to make a recommendation to Chief Rabbi Brodie who, I know, will give my proposal very serious consideration. The search seems to center on you. You have, to my mind, all the necessary qualifications for the position, and I think it will give you the kind of forum which will be proper for your own talents, ambitions, and principles. I need not, and perhaps cannot, elaborate to any greater extent at this time. I do think that it is a tremendous opportunity in a situation which can have historic consequences. I would want your agreement in writing that you would be willing to consider an invitation. This, of course, does not bind you to any eventual agreement. If I can receive your consent to this point by return mail, I will feel free in contacting Rabbi Brodie immediately.Of course, all these negotiations will be held in strictest confidence by me and by the people in England, as I know it will be by you.All best regards to June and the children.Cordially yours,RABBI NORMAN LAMM
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Correspondence

Exchange with R. Grauer about Attack on R. Jakobovits in The Jewish Chronicle (1967)

I read with great interest both Alan Miller’s letter to the Chronicle and your reply. Unfortunately, I am not a subscriber to the Chronicle. From time to time one of my friends drops off 5 or 6 copies for my perusal, and then I read the exchanges. Although it is distasteful to engage in these polemics, I agree with you that these communications have to be answered. The chutzpah is great – yasher koach. Sincerely, Murray
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Letter to the Editor about R. Jakobovits' Appointment to English Chief Rabbinate (1967)

Sir: There has just come to my attention the letter by Dr. Alan W. Miller which you published in your January 6th issue. I am sure that Rabbi Jakobovits does not need my assistance in withstanding an attack so intemperate and in such remarkably bad taste. Men of good will do not lend credence to such vituperation, and will no doubt rally to the new Chief Rabbi who brings to England a distinguished combination of scholarship and spiritual leadership. Having had the privilege of becoming a friend as well as a neighbor of Rabbi Jakobovits for the past eight years, I suspect he also possesses a sense of humor sufficent to react with equanimity and amusement to the kind of abrasive discourtesy your correspondent reveals.The letter-writer has also seen fit to include a gratuitous jibe, somewhat left-handed, at "Tradition," whose first editor I was. Apparently, "Tradition" and those who write for and edit it are also to be lumped together as "fundamentalists״ who remain hopelessly anachronistic ״in terms of the humanistic spirit of the modern age.״ Dr. Miller therefore compliments the Jewish Chronicle for not printing Rabbi Jakobovits' column from "Tradition."While I wonder whether, and to what extent, the editors of the Chronicle are flattered by this unsolicited encomium, I believe it should be known to your readers that "Tradition״ has received the acclaim of almost all groups outside Orthodoxy, and that Rabbi Jakobovits' column is probably the most popular feature in our journal. Both Rabbis and laymen turn to this column first and read it avidly, and with great care, before turning to the rest of the magazine. Apparently there are those, even in this "humanistic״ age (has Dr. Miller forgotten Auschwitz – and Hiroshima – and Vietnam?), who still regard Torah and Halakhah as retaining some value for their lives. It might be a good idea indeed for "Tradition", and especially the new Chief Rabbi's regular column, to be made available to English Jewry on a broader scale.I…
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