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Correspondence

September-November 1963

Exchange with Isidore Strick about Senator Javits' Speech at Springfield Hebrew Day School Dinner (1963)

Jewish Education Kehillat Kodimoh

1. R. Lamm to Isidore Strick

1. R. Lamm to Isidore Strick (Sep. 26, 1963)

1. R. Lamm to Isidore Strick (Sept. 26, 1963)

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Correspondence

Exchange with Isaac Koenigsberg about Senator Javits' Contribution to Springfield Hebrew Day School (1963)

Dear Mr. Koenigsberg: After having troubled you with the request of the Springfield Hebrew Day School of Springfield, Mass. to approach Senator Javits, and after having shared with you some of the initially unpleasant reactions by people associated with the Senator, I think it no more than right to inform you of good news as well. Senator Javits spoke at the Day School Dinner this past Sunday night and spoke very well indeed. His presence helped make it the most successful dinner in the school's history. In addition, he had the good sense and graciousness to add some very warm words about the Day School movement In general and about the local school in particular, he publicly pleaded with his audience to follow his example – he was going to mail in a "small check" to the Springfield Hebrew Day School. I know that whether the check is small or big, it is through your influence and assistance that this gesture was achieved. Let me, therefore, on behalf of all my dear friends of the Springfield School extend to you our most grateful appreciation for your co-operation.Si neerely,RABBI NORMAN LAMMNL!ff
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Correspondence

Letter to R. Jakobovits about Fee for Senator Javits' Speech at Springfield Hebrew Day School Dinner (1963)

Dear Rabbi Jakobovits: I am turning to you with a request to speak to our mutual friend Mr. Max Kettner to secure his assistance in a most important matter. For five years, during my Rabbinate in Springfield, Mass., I was extremely active in supporting the local Yeshiva, the Springfield Hebrew Day School. It was with great difficulty that we managed to keep the school alive, and the entire community benefited greatly by the results. This past summer the situation was so critical in Springfield that a decision was made to close the school. After considerable prodding by Torah Umesorah, and a number of calls and visits by me, we convinced the people in Springfield to make one more great effort this year to continue the school. The leadership of the institution has passed to a group of young, dedicated, but inexperienced people. They have settled their hopes for solving their financial crisis on arranging a community wide "Bar Mitzvah" Annual Dinner, at which a guest speaker of national standing would be the drawing card. They feel that if this can be successful, they may be able to save the school, and with it the possibility of keeping Springfield Jewry within the fold. To this end, they have invited Senator Javits to be the main speaker. They conjectured, correctly I believe, that he would be the right person to help win new adherents for the Day School. However, after inviting the Senator to appear on Sunday night December 1st, they were overwhelmed by the fee stipulated $1500. The school works on such a tight budget, the deficit is so heavy, the people who are involved have taxed themselves so far beyond their capacity, that this kind of fee may very well be the straw that threatens to break the camel's back. I know that Senator Javits occasionally offers his service gratis I believe on behalf of the Philanthropy League of New York. Now, the Day School people have no intention of asking Senator Javits to appear without a fee. However, if he could see his way clea…
Jewish Education Kehillat Kodimoh

Correspondence

Letter to Senator Javits about His Contribution to Springfield Hebrew Day School (1963)

My Dear Senator Javits: Permit me to extend to you my personal thanks for all that you have done for the Springfield aro Day School of Mass., with which school I was intimately associated for a for a number of years before my returning to New York City. All the reports I have received from Springfield about your appearance on December 1st at their Annual Banquet were extremely laudatory about how much you accomplished for the school and for the cause of Jewish education. I am especially grateful to you for the high-minded generosity which you manifested in making so substantial a contribution to the school. Were you not a man who is obviously so very busy with so many terribly important projects of national and international concern, I would explain to you in detail the far-reaching significance of your gesture. I shall spare you, forever, all these perticulars and merely state that you have, by your kindness, accomplished a great deal more than the sum on the check. I am extremely gratified and delighted that my approach to you through out mutual friend, Mr. Isaac Koenigsberg of New York City.has been successful, and that you have responded with a warm Jewish heat. I have told, and will continue to tell, all my dear friends in New York that they can truly be proud of a Senator who is not only a great American but also a magnanimous Jew.May the Almighty grant you and your family many years of health and happiness and continued success in both vocations.Sincerely yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm
Jewish Education Kehillat Kodimoh