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June 4, 2003

Introduction of Dr. Norman Lamm (2003)

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Biographical Sketch: Dr. Norman Lamm, President, Yeshiva University (1976)

Dr. Norman Lamm, philosopher, author, and teacher, and a chemist who became a rabbi, was elected the third president of Yeshiva University in August 1976. He became the first American-born president of the 91-year-old institution – the nation's oldest and largest university under Jewish auspices. Dr. Lamm was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on December 19, 1927, the son of Samuel and Pearl Baumol Lamm. He received his elementary and high school education at the Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in Brooklyn. In 1949 he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Yeshiva College of Yeshiva University, where he majored in chemistry and was class valedictorian. During Israel's War of Independence in 1948, as a student at the College, he worked on a secret munitions research project for the struggling state, headed by Dr. Ernst D. Bergmann, who later became head of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission. He continued his studies in chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. In 1951 he was ordained at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University. He received the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Jewish philosophy in 1966 from Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School. Dr. Lamm was appointed to the faculty of Yeshiva University in 1953, serving first as a philosophy instructor and rising through the ranks. In June 1966 he was appointed Erna and Jakob Michael Professor of Jewish Philosophy at the University. In addition, he served as visiting professor of Judaic studies at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York in 1974–75. Dr. Lamm was spiritual leader of The Jewish Center in New York City, affiliated with the Center since 1958. He served as rabbi of Congregation Kodimoh in Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1954 to 1958, and as assistant rabbi of New York City's Kehilath Jeshurun from 1952 to 1953. Dr. Lamm is widely recognized for his writings and discourses on interpretations of Jewish law in relation to probl…
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Tribute

In Honor of Dr. Norman Lamm (2010)

It is with great pleasure that I pay tribute to Dr. Lamm on the occasion of the celebration of the Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm prize presented this week to Rabbi Dr. Lord Jonathan Sacks. Dr. Lamm has been a distinguished leader of American Orthodoxy for more than half a century and of our yeshiva for close to three decades. One pasuk in the biblical book that bears his name describes Dr. Lamm’s tenacious and passionate efforts on behalf of our community. “...Man the guard posts, watch the road, gird your strength and gather much vigor” (Nachum 2:2).I want to frame my few words of tribute in honor of Dr. Lamm by making reference to the titles of some of his many works. Visionary leader and gifted orator, multi-faceted intellectual and powerful thinker. Dr. Lamm has devoted his life to the Jewish community. His “royal reach“ has embraced those who have both “faith and doubt,“ and the profundity of his teachings has illuminated many of the “seventy faces“ of Judaism, especially “Torah Utnadda.“ His thoughtful writings have contributed to our understanding of both Rabbi Hayyim of Volozhin’s “Torah lishmah” as well as “the religious thought of Hasidism.“ His works have constructed a “hedge of roses" protecting and enhancing the “treasury of tradition,” the “halakhot ve'halikhot” of Jewish life, lore and practice. Collectively, they comprise a “library’ of Jewish law and ethics," serving as guides to contemporary Jewish life. In a lifetime of service to Klal Yisrael, Dr. Lamm has valiantly toiled to ensure that contemporary Jewish life be a “good society,” governed by the value of “shema ” or respectful listening.May Hakadosh Baruch Hu grant Dr. Lamm many more happy years of good health and sound mind to continue his very important work and to enjoy together with Mindy and all the members of their extraordinary and wonderful family.
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Program for the Installation of Rabbi Norman Lamm (1954)

The Lord will give strength unto His people – the Lord will bless His people with peace. Congregation Kodimoh cordially invites you to attend the installation exercises of Rabbi Norman Lamm, Sunday afternoon, May 2, 1954, at 2:30 p.m., at Kodimoh Synagogue, Springfield, Massachusetts. Saturday and Sunday, 28th and 29th of Nissan, 5714 – May 1st and 2nd, 1954. Saturday morning: services at 8:30 a.m., sermon by Rabbi Israel Klavan, Executive Director, Rabbinical Council of America; kiddush following services. Saturday afternoon: halakhic dissertation by Rabbi Marvin Luban, 6:00 p.m., Congregation Rodphey Sholom, Holyoke, Massachusetts; Minchah services at 7:00 p.m.; Seudah Shelishit address by Rabbi Samuel Price, Emeritus, Temple Beth El. Saturday evening: reception and open house, 9:00 p.m., vestry of Kodimoh. Sunday afternoon: synagogue auditorium, installation exercises at 2:30 p.m.; installation address by Rabbi Joseph Lookstein, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, Professor, Yeshiva University, New York, NY. Greetings by Rabbi Eliezer Levi (Temple Beth El), Rabbi Herman Snyder (Sinai Temple), Rabbi Moses D. Sheinkopf (Beth Israel Synagogue), and Lieutenant Maurice Lamm, Chaplain, United States Army. Musical selections by Cantor Herman B. Abramson and the Kodimoh Choir. Sunday evening: Hotel Kimball, installation banquet at 6:30 p.m.; address by Rabbi Joseph M. Baumol, Crown Heights Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY. Greetings by Rabbi Burton Mehler (Violet Park Jewish Center, Bronx, NY), Rabbi Hugo Mantell (Congregation Sons of Zion, Holyoke, MA), and Rabbi Solomon Sigel (Congregation Sons of Jacob).
Biographical Material