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Correspondence

Sep. 25, 1962

Letter from Israel Kelman about Sending Rabbi to India to Resolve Divorce and Conversion Issues (1962)

The Rabbinate India
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Exchange with Dr. Kahana about Sending a Rabbi to India (1962)

רב וידיד מאד נכבד, מאשר אני קבלת מכתבך מעש"ק פר יתרו – ומקוה בהתאם למכתבך שהענין יסתדר בקרוב. אשמח גם לקבל את חות דעתך בקשר לסידור הרב בהודו – אם אושר התקציב על ידי האוניון ובאיזה גובה, ואם אפשר לשלח את הרב לשם כשימצא האיש המתאים. הרעיון על בן ישיבה שישתלם נראה לי. נראה לי אבל זה לא פותר את הבעיה הדחופה. אשר לבר מצוה רצוי שתשלח לי את רשימת הילדים הנכנסים השנה לגיל המצוות. השם, הכתבת, והשבת ונשלח לך בשבילם תעודות בר מצוה מירושלים מהר-ציון ונחברם עם ילדים בני בר מצוה הנכנסים באותה שבת גופא למצוות בישראל. אשמח לשמוע ממך. בכבוד רב, ד"ר ש.ז. כהנא, המנהל הכללי.נ.ב. כך הנני להודיעך שהרבגוסהולד לא נמצא כעת בארץכך האינפורמציה שלי אינה שלמה.
The Rabbinate India

Correspondence

Letter from Dr. Weiss to Israel Kelman about Sending a Rabbi to India and Problematic Mebasser Content (1962)

Dear Mr. Kelman, Thank you very much for sending me the copies of your letters of June 25th and July 6th. I trust that you received in the meantime Rabbi Lamm's reply, dated July 16th. We here, too, are very much disturbed by some of the statements published in “Mebasser” and by some of the negative tendencies. I have made our feelings very clear to Mr. Jhirad and I hope that it will have the desired effect. The Bene Israel community is, of course, terribly excited about the problem of their marriage disabilities, and allowances must be made. Still, it is not our purpose to support the publication of personal attacks and of anti-Israel material.I hope that in the meantime Dr. Warhaftig has found a rabbi to come to India with full authorization of the Chief Rabbinate, to take care of the pending Gittin. In my letter to Mr. Jhirad, I have made it a point to stress our complete agreement with this proposed procedure.Rabbi Lamm, in his reply of July 16th, has made his annotations to your proposed booklet of prayers. I would like to submit for your consideration the inclusion of *Emet Veyatziv* until *Go'el Yisrael.* I base my recommendation on the fact that the Mishnah ordains the *Berachah Acharonah* in the same way as the preceding two *Berachot.*Our printer tells me that it would be much more practical to reproduce the pictures of our kashruth booklet by photo offset rather than sending you the blocks—or, as we call them here, the cuts—of these photos. Still, if you prefer the blocks, we will send them to you. For your convenience, I am enclosing a set of these photos so that you may ascertain the opinion of your printer on this question.Permission to reprint this booklet or parts of it is, of course, gladly granted. The same applies to all other publications you may wish to translate in toto or in part. As Rabbi Lamm wrote you, Mr. Jhirad has a supply of our booklets available, among them our pamphlets on the Jewish festivals.With kindest personal regards, I amVery…
The Rabbinate India

Correspondence

Letter to Haham Gaon about Sending Rabbi to India to Resolve Divorce and Conversion Issues (1962)

Dear Haham Gaon: It is some time since we have corresponded, and the truth is that I had hoped that, by this time, we could have met personally in New York. I know that the request I am now going to make is a difficult one to fulfill. Nevertheless, on the remote chance that it can be done, I want to ask you if it is at all possible to find a qualified Orthodox Rabbi in England, either Sephardi or Ashkenazi, who would be willing to undertake a one or two year trip to Bombay. This would be primarily for the purpose of putting some order into the present confused situation with regard to marriage and divorce.I am enclosing an excerpt of a letter I recently received from The Jewish Agency Representative in Bombay with whom I am keeping up a regular correspondence. I understand that the expenses for such a visit would be shared by a number of the responsible agencies involved, including our own used SCA.Please accept my very best wishes to you and Mrs. Gaon for a year of health, happiness, and continued achievements for Torah and Israel.Cordially yours,RABBI NORMAN LAMMNL\:ffEncl.cc: Dr. Weiss w/enclMr. Feuerstein w/encl
The Rabbinate India