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Correspondence

February 1969

Exchange with Seymour Rosenbloom about Lecturing on Prayer at JTS (1969)

Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

1. Seymour Rosenbloom to R. Lamm

1. Seymour Rosenbloom to R. Lamm (Feb. 5, 1969)

1. Seymour Rosenbloom to R. Lamm (Feb. 5, 1969)

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Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Avi Rockoff about Speaking to Cross-Denominational Group (1987)

Dear Dr. Lamm, As a member of the Massachusetts delegation you addressed yesterday (and as a YU graduate), I want to thank you for the splendid presentation you gave our group. I assure you that it was as effective as it was forthright and articulate. At our closing session Monday evening, one Conservative and Reform participant after another rose to declare that your speech was the trip's highlight. Said one woman, "Rabbi Lamm was an epiphany." All of us marveled at how clearly superior YU's efforts were to those of the other seminaries. Everyone likes to be taken seriously, and no one could miss the intensity with which you and your colleagues took seriously and in fact shared the goal of our mission: to promote Jewish unity. I have to tell you that as a YU alumnus, I was enormously proud. The result? Reform and Conservative participants were shocked into recognizing how distorted their stereotypes of Orthodox Jews were. (Perhaps we Orthodox members of the group helped a little, too.) But more important: the ideals by which we live commanded new respect by being set forth clearly and without apology. (For example, discussing "patrilineal descent," one Reform woman shook her head and said, "But I thought the Orthodox opposed it just because they wanted to have it their way and not ours. I didn't know there was a law involved.") Our group were concerned ba'alei batim, not radical ideologues; faced with an explanation of halacha, they wanted not to reject it, but to learn more about it. I am sure, Dr. Lamm, that you hoped to accomplish these things, and I just wanted to let you know that, at least as far as this particular group was concerned, you succeeded. Next, of course, you have to host a Unity delegation from Agudas Yisroel and the Chassidim of Munkacs... Meanwhile, we will do our best in Boston to have our leaders follow your example. Once again, thank you. Sincerely, Avi Rockoff
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Mandelbaum about Appearing on "In Contact" WNBC Radio Program (1970)

Dear Norman: As you know, WNBC-AM and WNBC-FM present a weekly discussion program called "In Contact" Sunday nights at 9:05-9:55 p.m. The program, broadcast live from Rockefeller Center, features three clergymen of the major faiths taking telephone calls on a timely issue. We would be very pleased if you would participate in "In Contact." For this, you would have to have available the first, third, fourth and fifth (if applicable) Sundays in one month. (NBC asks that we obtain a full one-month commitment, to give continuity to the program.) The Department of Radio and Television will notify NBC of your acceptance. You would have to appear at the WNBC Studios no earlier than 8:45 p.m. each Sunday, and you would be finished by 10 p.m. You would not have to prepare any remarks as the entire operation depends on the spontaneous interplay between panelist and caller, and between panelists.We hope you will be able to take part in "In Contact" and look forward to hearing from you shortly.With every good wish.Sincerely yaurs,Bernard MandelbaumRabbi Norman LammThe Jewish Center 131 West 86th Street New York, New York 10024BM: jv
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

Correspondence

Exchange with Dr. Marvin Schick about the Synagogue Council of America, Development of Halacha, and Israeli Religious Life (1969)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I'm in between classes at Bar-Ilan, which is as good a time as any to begin a letter of this sort. When it will be finished, I can't say since I'm certain that it will be that long. First, an apology and an explanation. The former for the difficulty you will encounter if you attempt to read the whole thing. My handwriting, if one can employ such a word here, is rotten to begin with and goes downhill after the first half-hour or so. I'm sorry,
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations