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Correspondence

February 1962

Exchange with Dr. Kahana about Sending a Rabbi to India (1962)

The Rabbinate India

1. Dr. Kahana to R. Lamm

1. Dr. Kahana to R. Lamm (Feb. 5, 1962)

1. Dr. Kahana to R. Lamm (Feb. 5, 1962)

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Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Tartakower about Candidate for Bombay Rabbi and Strained Relations with Israeli Rabbinate (1962)

Dear Dr. Tartakower: Thank you for your letter of April 22nd. We will be happy to hear from Chief Rabbi Nissim concerning the appropriate candidate for Bombay. Once the right man is found and the Chief Rabbi recommends to us the undertaking of financial assistance in this project, I am sure that our commission will give it most sympathetic consideration. As you know, we corresponded with the Chief Rabbi concerning a previous candidate who unfortunately was not found acceptable.I brought the request of Dr. S. Sabath to the attention of the Chairman of our Publications Commission. It is with regret that I must inform you that this commission does not find itself in a position to finance the translation, though the merits of the book of Dr. Sabath are unquestionable.With kindest regards and all good wishes, I amSincerely yours,Dr. Samson R. WeissExecutive Vice PresidentSRW/sdDr. Aryeh Tartakower1 Ben Yehuda RoadJerusalem, Israel
The Rabbinate India

Correspondence

Exchange with R. Warhaftig about Candidate for Bombay Rabbi (1962)

My Dear Dr. Warhaftig: I hope you will excuse me for not writing to you in Hebrew, but as you probably realize it is much easier for me to correspond in English, in which language I can dictate and have the letters typed for me. Rabbi Kirshblum has just informed me that you have an appropriate candidate for the position as rabbi in Bombay, India. He has inquired of Mr. Moe Feuerstein, President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, as to whether the Union is prepared to share in his salary. A great deal, of course, depends upon the candidate. As you may know, I spent some time in India last year on behalf of the Union and the Rabbinical Council of America, and I am more or less an authority in dealings with India. Complicating this problem is the rather unusual conditions and policies regarding the Chief Rabbi’s ecclesiastical office. I would appreciate it very much, therefore, if you will send me as many details as possible about the candidate, of his background, qualifications, and requirements. I would appreciate it if these were forwarded to you, if you were to notify me of events as they develop so that, perhaps, we may be of some assistance in achieving the objective that is sacred to all of us. With all good wishes, Most respectfully yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm.
The Rabbinate India

Correspondence

Letter from Dr. Weiss to Israel Kelman about Sending a Rabbi to India and Problematic Mebasser Content (1962)

Dear Mr. Kelman, Thank you very much for sending me the copies of your letters of June 25th and July 6th. I trust that you received in the meantime Rabbi Lamm's reply, dated July 16th. We here, too, are very much disturbed by some of the statements published in “Mebasser” and by some of the negative tendencies. I have made our feelings very clear to Mr. Jhirad and I hope that it will have the desired effect. The Bene Israel community is, of course, terribly excited about the problem of their marriage disabilities, and allowances must be made. Still, it is not our purpose to support the publication of personal attacks and of anti-Israel material.I hope that in the meantime Dr. Warhaftig has found a rabbi to come to India with full authorization of the Chief Rabbinate, to take care of the pending Gittin. In my letter to Mr. Jhirad, I have made it a point to stress our complete agreement with this proposed procedure.Rabbi Lamm, in his reply of July 16th, has made his annotations to your proposed booklet of prayers. I would like to submit for your consideration the inclusion of *Emet Veyatziv* until *Go'el Yisrael.* I base my recommendation on the fact that the Mishnah ordains the *Berachah Acharonah* in the same way as the preceding two *Berachot.*Our printer tells me that it would be much more practical to reproduce the pictures of our kashruth booklet by photo offset rather than sending you the blocks—or, as we call them here, the cuts—of these photos. Still, if you prefer the blocks, we will send them to you. For your convenience, I am enclosing a set of these photos so that you may ascertain the opinion of your printer on this question.Permission to reprint this booklet or parts of it is, of course, gladly granted. The same applies to all other publications you may wish to translate in toto or in part. As Rabbi Lamm wrote you, Mr. Jhirad has a supply of our booklets available, among them our pamphlets on the Jewish festivals.With kindest personal regards, I amVery…
The Rabbinate India