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Correspondence

June-July 1961

Exchange with R. Gotthold about the Bene Israel Controversy and Securing a Rabbi for India (1961)

Practical Halacha India

1. R. Gotthold to Dr. Weiss

1. R. Gotthold to Dr. Weiss (June 29, 1961)

1. R. Gotthold to Dr. Weiss (June 29, 1961)

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Dear Dr. Gaon: The enclosed copies of letters speak for themselves. I assume there was an overlapping of correspondence, and that your instructions to Bombay were received while Dr. Kahana wrote to me. I am anxious to hear from you concerning the Sassoon matters. My latest information, reaching me this morning, is that Rabbi Unterman of Tel-Aviv, has joined the opposition to Rabbi Nissim, and that the "Heter" is just about dead.I have the feeling that any significant information from Rabbi Sassoon can possibly bring Rabbi Unterman back to aPro-Heter stand.Please be kind enough to look Into these matters as soon as possible.Sincerely,Rabbi Norman LammNL:ffEnclsCC: Dr .Weiss/w/encls
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Exchange with R. Silas about Proposed Takkanot on Conversion and Marriage for Indian Bet Din (1962)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, Some time ago, you sent the Tekanoth for conversion to the “Gate of Mercy” Synagogue, through the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations in India. Some questions have arisen and we need your advice. In Rule No. 3 in the Tekanoth it is mentioned: “If a candidate who intends to be converted to the Jewish faith is married to a Jew, then the conversion cannot take place less than nine months and one day after petition for proselytisation!” Could you kindly explain what is this nine months and one day period meant for. Also, in Rule 3 of the above, it is mentioned “that the candidate should appear a year after petition for proselytisation before the Beth Din.” Why is the period less in the case when the candidate is married to a Jew? I would appreciate an early reply to these questions, and thanking you in anticipation. Yours sincerely, S. Silas Rabbi Simon Silas Assistant to the Haham
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Exchange with Shri Israel about Excluding Israeli Rabbinate from Influence in India (1963)

Dear Shri, you may remember that some six months ago I showed you a copy of a letter I had written to Mr. Michael, the Consul for Israel at Bombay, regarding the undesirability of Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs deputing a Rabbi to India to settle pending divorces. In that letter I had informed him that, if the proposal was persisted in, I would appeal to the Government of India to refuse admission to the Rabbi. You had then agreed that a Rabbi so deputed was completely unacceptable. I have seen a letter addressed by you to Shri D.A. Maggonkar in which you say that your Union has arranged with your opposite number in America for a Rabbi in whose selection the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel will have a hand to come to Bombay presumably under your auspices. It is evident that, except for the cover given to the arrangement by the UOJCA, it is substantially the same as that to which you professed such strong opposition in conversation with me, and I can hardly believe that you have not realised that this is so. About the religious aspects of the matter, I am not personally concerned, though it is astonishing that any self-respecting Bene Israel organisation can for a moment contemplate cooperating with an authority which will humiliate us. Have you forgotten the terms of your address to Rabbi Brodie or of the Open Letter to the President and the Prime Minister of Israel? What, however, I am concerned with, and what every loyal citizen of India should be concerned with, is the handle you have provided to the Israeli Government and its hirelings to interfere in our domestic concerns. The matter is, to my mind, of such importance that I have considered it necessary to send a representation to the Government of India in the matter without waiting to canvass opinion among friends and acquaintances. I trust that, even at this late stage, you will take corrective action to ensure that the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs an…
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