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Correspondence

1974

Letter from R. Jakobovits about His Concerns Concerning Religion and Politics in Israel (1974)

Religion & State
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Exchange with R. Jakobovits about Political Involvement in "Who Is a Jew" Issue (1974)

Dear Norman, Thank you so much for your letter and enclosures which I read with special interest. The sermons, though in the nature of things somewhat depressing, show your usual mastery of thought, analysis, expression and homiletics. They mirror an assessment of the American reaction to the War rather different from what I have observed in the Anglo-Jewish community, where indifference, let alone hostility, were very little in evidence. I felt the contrast myself when I briefly visited America for the marriage of our son in Detroit at the time of the cease-fire. I am now looking forward with particularly eager anticipation to your contribution at the Hebrew University Conference. This must have been quite a fascinating and stimulating experience. On the Mafdal front, our discussion has been overtaken by events culminating in the, to my mind, rather humiliating capitulation of its ill-advised stand. The whole episode reeks with inconsistency, short-sightedness and sheer folly. I am enclosing a statement I circulated among my colleagues which will indicate my position, lonely and subject to no end of abusive attacks as it was. From all the evidence I have, your information on the Rav’s attitude is not altogether accurate. My information from Fabian and other sources is that, presumably capitulating to the agitation fanned by Lubavitch, he took the initiative in pressing Goren to forbid the Mafdal to join the coalition – a decision which may, I fear, be rued for years to come. I also gather, contrary to what you write, that Yosef, far from threatening to fall out with Goren over his refusal to countenance the Mafdal’s joining the Government, in fact adopted the far more reasonable attitude of leaving the political decision to the party itself. As I intimate in my statement, I believe the solution now lies in taking the whole issue out of the political arena and placing it into the hands of the Rabbinate where it properly belongs. In alluding to the proposal you men…
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Letter to R. Amital about Israeli Election Loss (1988)

לכבוד ידידי הנעלה הרה״ג מוהר״י עמיטל שליט״א שלומו ישגא, יכולני להבין כמה נתאכזב מעכ״ת מתוצאות הבחירות אחרי כל העבודה הקשה שהשקיע במאמציו לטובת ״מימד,״ אבל הנני כותב לעודדו שאל יפול רוחו ח״ו ואל יתחרט על יוזמתו, ואדרבה – ישמח שנעתר לדרישת השעה ברוח בקשת האמת והתמסרות לתורה ולעם. ואף אם נכשל בבחירות, הלא הבוחר בתורה ובוחר בציון יודע את הכוונות הטהורות והנכונות הצפונות במטמני לבו של מר, ואין האמת מתבטלת ברוב, ואדרבה האמת יורה דרכו ועוד יבואו רבים ושלמים להשכים על פתחו לחדש מאמציו בכושר הנהגתו וצדקת רעיונותיו. עצם השתדלותו ליצור תנועה שתבטא את המושג של התמסרות לתורה ולא״י בלי קנאות, בשאיפה לשלום בין־לאומי ושלום בפנים, בלי כפייה ובלי ביטול הדדי – עצם הדבר הזה היה והווה קידוש השם, ובמקום שיש חילול השם אין חולקין כבוד, לא לרב ולא לרוב. בכבוד רב וביקרות אמת, נחום לאם.
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