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Correspondence

July-August 1972

Exchange with Minister Ben-Meir about Mafdal, Conversion, and the Mizrachi Fellowship (1972)

The Jewish Center Mizrachi

1. Minister Ben-Meir to R. Lamm

1. Minister Ben-Meir to R. Lamm (July 4, 1972)

1. Minister Ben-Meir to R. Lamm (July 4, 1972)

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This is the second 80th birthday party of Mizrachi that I have been invited to attend. The first was in New York a few months ago, and the second is now, here in Jerusalem. Clearly, this is the more festive as well as the more authentic event, and I am honored to have been invited to address you on this occasion in the presence of so many dignitaries from Israel and overseas. Reaching gevurot is worthy of a happy celebration. An idea which was just a glint in the eyes of a few visionaries has become a reality which has had an enormous impact on religious Jewry, on the State of Israel, and on the world Jewish community. It is an occasion of gratitude to the Almighty that we can together commemorate this eightieth anniversary in the Holy City of Jerusalem. I shall not recount the triumphant achievements of Mizrachi in the course of the past eight decades. First, there are those here who can do that much better than I and out of a greater background of personal experience. Second, I do not see myself in the role of a cheerleader, and I do not think you invited me here for that purpose Finally, seif-gratulation is a luxury which we cannot afford when we are confronted with almost unprecedented challenges. Boasting of the past is usually the symptom of advanced age and the onset of senility. If we are vigorous, we must work to secure the future __ which alone can give meaning and continuity to the achievements of the past. -2- The truth is that underneath the thin veneer of festivity lies a reservoir of sadness, tension, worry, and foreboding appre- hension. There is angst and melancholy in the air generally in Israel because of events that do not require repetition by me. For Mizrachi, there is the awareness that it is today at a critical point in its history. Politically it has lost half of its parlia- mentary seats. Organizationally, it is in decline throughout the world. Some of us have begun to feel like vestiges of the past instead of harbingers of the future. Som…
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Dear Yehudah: As you well know, I have rarely intervened in the political matters of the NRP save to offer my assistance to you and Zevulun whenever I was able to. I have every intention of remaining consistent in my policy of non-interference. However, I have received a request from Aaron Cohen to write to you and Zevulun about his efforts to be #3 man in the forthcoming elections. Quite frankly, I know and like his major rival for that post, and consider myself incompetent to decide between them. However, I do wish to state that I have known Aaron for a number of years and have always found him to be a sympathetic and fine person. Unquestionably, it would be important as well to have some non-Ashkenazi representation in the upper echelon of the עיער. With this I have come as close to the brink of intervention as I care, and hasten to wish you and your wife and children, as well as Zevulun and his family a חג שמח. Cordially, RABBI NORMAN LAMM
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הרב ד"ר נחום לם, שלום וברכה, זה עידן ועידנים שלא התראינו ולא התכתבנו והדבר הזה חסר לי מאוד, כי לאודאי, שזכרך תמיד שקולני, ומתעניינים בכל ידיד בכל הבנינות. אמנם ביקורתי בניו־יורק חודשים בחודש נובמבר, אבל ביקורי קוצר בגלל סיבות רבות ולא יצא לי להיפגש אתך. והדבר הזה חרה לי מספר שבועות. גדלותו הרוחנית של מרן מו"ר הגרי"ד סולובייצ'יק זצ"ל מתבטאת במיוחד בהשפעתו המיוחדת על קבוצה מיוחדת של תלמידים שזכו לשמוע תורה מפי הגדול הזה, קבוצה אשר אתה נמנה עליה. אחדות מיוחדת זו של תלמידים תלמידי חכמים, שנולדה מתוך גאוות השייכות למורם ורבם המשותף, יש לה חשיבות עצומה והיא מצווה לפרקים להפגש יחד, הן כדי לעורר ולהעלות מחדש את תורתו, והן כדי להעלות את זכרו ולזכות את הרבים. אי לכך, עלה במחשבתי לארגן פגישה של תלמידים תלמידי חכמים בישראל לימים המיוחדים שאחרי ימי הפסח. ברור לי כי אתה תהיה אחד המשתתפים הראשיים, ועל כן אבקשך להודיעני את הסכמתך ואת המועד הנוח לך. אחי, שלום וברכה לך ולרעייתך ולצאצאיכם היקרים, ישמרם ה' ויחיים, ולירושתך הכבודה והמכובדת ברוב ברכה ובתוך חבריך.בכל הכבוד, הרב מרדכי הירשבלום
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