Exchange with Myron Kaufmann about His Draft of "The Coming Destruction of Israel" (1970)

/ Exchange with Myron Kaufmann about His …

Correspondence

July 1970

Exchange with Myron Kaufmann about His Draft of "The Coming Destruction of Israel" (1970)

Miscellaneous

1. Myron Kaufmann to R. Lamm

1. Myron Kaufmann to R. Lamm (July 16, 1970)

1. Myron Kaufmann to R. Lamm (July 16, 1970)

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Correspondence

Exchange with Myron Kaufmann about Publicity for Orthodox Minyan in Sharon, MA (1972)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, Thank you for your letter, and for your good wishes for our minyan. After only two months, with G-d’s help, one new Orthodox family has already come into Sharon. We hope it will be the beginning of an influx. There are few places in eastern Massachusetts where a family of moderate means but with children in a non-urban environment will still have access to a halachic minyan. One of the tasks that will confront us for some months to come is continuing publicity at this early stage; many in Greater Boston know little and assume that there is an Orthodox minyan in Sharon, while others are waiting to see if the plant is hardy enough to take root. We spread word of our existence through weekly notices, word of mouth, and week-end guests. We have found, however, that a press release, such as the enclosed one which you saw as a press release and which appeared on the front page of the Jewish Advocate in Boston, is far more effective. I therefore feel it is very important in coming months to place follow-up releases in these same papers. Rabbi Louis Finkelstein of the Conservative Seminary, whose son-in-law was my college roommate and who has been a good friend to me over the years, has also written me a fine letter about our minyan and has consented to have this used if and when it is desirable. If I may, I ask to quote here the short release that I enclose with this letter. It is obvious that our growth will rest as much on the words of friends as on publicity of our making, and your words carry weight as President of Yeshiva and as a Conservative rabbi, both of great standing and both friends of our minyan’s members, is extraordinary good fortune at this time. May I have tentative permission to quote from your letter of May 3 in a news release, subject to my submitting a quotation and release of the release to you for your approval? The passages to quote are: “I took special delight in learning the unusual way in which you have managed to establish an …

Correspondence

Exchange with Myron Kaufmann about Revised Version of "The Coming Destruction of Israel" (1972)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I am taking the liberty of sending you copies of letters I have just now written to Mr. Harry Steinberg, Executive Director of the American Zionist Federation (515 Park Ave., N.Y.C.) and to Mr. Moshe Ofer of the Permanent Israeli Mission to the U.N. The letters explain themselves. Meanwhile, I have before me a letter you wrote me dated Oct. 7, 1970, in which you said in part: “I am genuinely excited about the book! Despite the horrid names, I find your argument so clear, the language so uncluttered… that it might perhaps alone represent the kind of work I had long been urging on my Israeli and Zionist friends –– a primer for Jewish students and Jews in public life…” My thought is that the book might perhaps now be revised into such a primer, with the support of the Zionist Federation, the U.J.A., and perhaps the Israelis themselves. I will phone Miss Wagner in a day or two. However, since I don’t know whether she knows of the book (she wrote to me in care of my fiction publisher) or whether the U.J.A. is quite what she and the U.J.A. may have in mind, I thought that before getting back to her I would inquire whether Mr. Ofer and his colleagues and Mr. Steinberg feel as they did two years ago. I will also appreciate any suggestions you may have. On another subject, you will be glad to hear that the National Council of Young Israel has been in touch with the Sharon Orthodox Minyan, and will probably grant it a charter within the next several weeks. This will certainly help it to grow. The Minyan is now in its 36th week, and still maintains a perfect record of never failing to have a minyan on shabbat or yom tov. Sincerely, Myron S. Kaufmann

Correspondence

Exchange with Myron Kaufmann about Starting Orthodox Minyan in Sharon, MA (1972)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I thought you might enjoy seeing a copy of the enclosed press release. It took months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, but with G-d’s help we began the first day of 5700 and have had the minyan every day since. There are many restrictions: each minyan must be arranged ahead, we are forbidden to look for a tenth man within the building, and certain individuals who would be glad to help us are forbidden to act at all. But, membership underlying, so far so good, and every week has brought all the greater matches because of the program’s very fragility. One man, a paralyzed engineer, has already decided that as soon as he is unparalyzed he will move to Sharon — as a result of our minyan. Warmest good wishes, Sincerely, Myron S. Kaufmann.