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Correspondence

July-August 1971

Exchange with Dr. Tropper about Gesher Seminar for Russian Immigrants (1971)

Gesher Israel Soviet Jewry

1. Dr. Tropper to R. Lamm

1. Dr. Tropper to R. Lamm (July 21, 1971)

1. Dr. Tropper to R. Lamm (July 21, 1971)

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Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Tropper about Disagreement on Gesher Funding (1971)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I met with Dr. Burg on Erev Shabbat concerning your letter to Golda Meir. In between his various jokes and stories, I managed to learn that a committee composed of members of just about every party has been formed to oversee the Shapiro project. Burg, therefore, called the project "non-political." However, in subsequent meetings with the Ministry's spokesman Yaakov Agassi (Shapiro’s ex-azaer) and a few other insiders I was able to piece together the following:The “committee” is a collection of names, but in actual practice it is a Mafdal-directed affair. The Shapiro project, it seems, will after all be Gush Etzion—but not the kibbutz Kfar Etzion, rather the *Mercaz Azori* (the hill on which the Yeshiva stands—where you slept the night you attended the seminar). They plan to develop that hill—or *Yad Shapiro* as it is slated to be called—into a large educational center to the tune of IL 10 million. The Rothschilds are throwing in the lion’s share (here's where Rav Amital got his money), the government will give another large chunk, and private donations will complete it.Now \_\_\_ has been informed that if he agrees to move his *Beit Sefer Sadeh* and proposed *Midrashiat Har Chevron* to the *Mercaz Azori*, he can share in the kitty. However, \_\_\_ has stubbornly refused. He is interested in Kfar Etzion and that’s it. Despite the many logical reasons other than financial presented to dissuade him (e.g., a kibbutz is a community and not the place where you want groups of visiting kids floating around all day), he has stubbornly refused.Agassi and Moskovitz of Misrad HaPnim have told me frankly that if we can convince \_\_\_ to make the move and join him in his Midrashiat Har Chevron, there can be quite a bit of money for Gesher in the deal. However, I know \_\_\_ well, and he will not budge. No amount of money will lure him from furthering the development of his precious Kfar Etzion in the direction that he wants.And so this is the situation. Natural…
Gesher Israel

Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Tropper about His Reflections on Recent Gesher Seminars (1971)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, Gesher’s Seminar #2 ended last night and was, believe it or not, even more successful than #1. Despite the worst weather all winter, and the most rainy Pesach on record (it rained all or parts of every day, temperatures dropped into the 30’s) Gesher pulled off another one. The truth is that due to the cold I was unable to be at Kfar Etzion most of the time (couldn’t possibly expose the children to it) but from what I saw and heard it was a gem. First let me provide you with some of the essential data and then I can relate a few ‘human interest’ stories which capture the essence of the experience. There were 44 participants (of the 48 who registered – which astounded us, since flood warnings went out that morning on the radio, for the Kfar Etzion area), 6 madrichim (of whom four were from the Bet Sefer Sadeh, including Chanan, and two whom we brought ourselves) and Yakov Boyar supervising and organizing. The seminar began on Tuesday Chol Hamoed Pesach, and lasted five days, till Motzaei Shabbat. The students were representatives of 12 schools from the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beersheba areas.
Gesher Israel

Correspondence

Letter from Chaim Billet about Gesher Seminars for Russian Immigrants (1971)

Dear Rabbi Lamm: Enclosed, please find a poster announcing the series of Gesher summer seminars for Israeli youth. It is being posted primarily in Israeli high schools with ongoing Gesher programs. You may wish to display this poster in your synagogue. In addition to these, several seminars on Yahadut for young Russian immigrants exclusively, are being planned. You may be interested to learn that Gesher incurs a deficit of $800 for each regular seminar, and a considerably larger deficit for the Russian seminars, (as the Russian youngsters cannot afford even our modest charges). We can ill afford to absorb such deficits, but as you have recommended, the seminars have been so spectacularly successful that they are receiving our highest priority. We are also enclosing a copy of the latest Daf Gesher, our Hebrew newsletter, which summarizes some of the activities of the last months for our Israeli followers. As you can see, Gesher is gaining momentum. Kindest regards, Chaim Billet
Gesher Israel Soviet Jewry