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Correspondence

Feb. 9, 1961

Letter from Abraham Jhirad about Demographics of the Indian Jewish Community (1961)

India
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Letter from Abraham Jhirad about Progress in Indian Jewish Community (1962)

Dear Rabbi, I have enclosed herewith a copy of my letter to Dr. Weiss. I regret very much the delay in submitting the report about the classes, etc. Let me assure you, and believe me this is because of your visit, we have been able to create a revival of Jewishness in the minds of the Indian Jewry. We are getting along quite well with Grossmans and the Agency, and with the training of a few more teachers, we will be able to extend the facility to distant villages. It will interest you to note that the ‘Etz Haeem’ Prayer Hall, Umerkhadi, Bombay and the ‘Magen Abraham’ Synagogue, Ahmedabad, have affiliated with the Orthodox Union, thanks to you.After a lot of mental agony and fighting position/monetary gain against service to community for a religious cause, I have finally declined the offer of the post of Manager of the Bank. I may even not contest election for the post of Secretary this year, although I was elected for all the past four years by an overwhelming majority.Is it likely for you to take the trip to India in the near future? If it is so, I wonder if I can request you to bring for me one electric shaver for my use. I could pay you equivalent cost in Indian money here.Have there been any further developments about the proposed factory?With my personal regards and best wishes, I am,Most sincerely yours,(A.D. Jhirad)EXECUTIVE DIRECTORThe Rabbi Norman LammThe Jewish Center,New York
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Letter to Abraham Jhirad about Indian Mebasser Article on Bene Israel and Israeli Marriage Policies (1962)

Dear Abel, I am putting into letter form, special delivery, some of the thoughts I tried to express over the phone this morning. When the new J.P.S. translation was first announced, I did not share the alarm of some of our fellow Orthodox Rabbis. At most, I felt slightly revolted by the cheap publicity. However, I now have some authentic information, in advance of the official publication, that is genuinely alarming and that, I believe, requires immediate action by the R.C.A., which has, at the last Executive Meeting, referred the matter to the Publications Commission for a report in March. My recommendation is that the commission, or preferably a specialized sub-committee of it, report before February 14th, which is the official publication date for the book.The information came to me from a lay scholar who is an observant Jew and who attended a meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. (I ask you to keep this particular aspect confidential since I do not want to be revealed to the others.) At this occasion, Prof. \[ ] regaled his learned audience with contemptuous references to Orthodox Jewry, to which he referred as "the lunatic fringe." He maintained that the restraint the translators felt on their account during the preparation of Genesis was almost completely abandoned by the time they reached Deuteronomy.The major departures from the Masoretic tradition should be sought in footnotes throughout the text which refer the reader to "superior readings" in the Samaritan, Vulgate, and—I believe—Septuagint translations.I would like to refer you and the committee to a particular verse which, according to my informant, can best serve as a criterion for loyalty or disloyalty to the Masorah. That is in Genesis 10:10, where four cities are mentioned, in the land of Shinar, as being in the kingdom of Nimrod. Biblical scholars have identified the first three, but have not excavated the fourth, identified in the Bible as Kalach.Non-Masoretic exegetes have …
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Letter to Abraham Jhirad Requesting Updates on Indian Jewry and the Bene Israel (1968)

Dear Abraham: It is a long, long time since we have corresponded. I remember with a pang of regret that several years ago I had written a number of letters to you which remained unanswered. Nevertheless, I was delighted to receive a copy of your letter of last June to Dr. Samson Weiss in which you sent regards to me and sent along an amulet for my "collection." I am most anxious to know of your personal progress, as well as of the general conditions of the B'nai Israel in Bombay, with whom I have been out of touch for some time now. I understand that you were in Israel for several weeks and I hope you enjoyed them as almost everyone does. Please accept my best wishes to you and all members of your family for a happy and blessed New Year. Cordially yours,Rabbi Norman Lamm
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