Letter to Dr. Belkin about His Illness (1969)

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Letter to Dr. Belkin about Areas of Research for YU Institute of Ethics (1966)

I suggest the following special problems be included as areas for research in Jewish ethics. (1) The problem of Biblical Wars. What is their ethical justification? Does the interpretation of the Oral Law mitigate the ethical problem? Does the problem have any relevance to the contemporary problem of "just wars?" (2) "Holocaust Theology" – Research into Jewish theodicy, and a study of contemporary writings, in an attempt to meet the ethical challenge of justice in a world in which 6 million Jews were killed. The ethical formulation of the classical metaphysical problem: is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the God of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau? (3) Illegitimacy – How do we reconcile the limitation on the freedom of an illegitimate child with the ethical principle that every man suffers for his own sins?The treatment of the Non-Jew in HalakhaThe treatment of women in Halakha – The question of their disqualification as witnesses; inheritance; and the Agunah. The ethical problems in this area should also include that of Halitzah: why is the brother-in-law faulted in the ceremony, when he is forbidden to marry the Yebamah by Rabbinical interdiction?RNL/h

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Letter to R. Peli about Reaching Out to Dr. Belkin (1966)

Dear Pinchas: Please excuse the English, but I am in a rush to get out of my office. 1. It was a pleasure seeing Avidor here. 2. Dr. Belkin is on vacation till the middle of January. I will bring the matter of your affilliation with the Yeshiva to him at the earliest possible moment after his return. All my best, Cordially yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm, RNL/fz

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Letter to Dr. Belkin Regretting Inability to Attend 25th Anniversary Celebration of His Presidency (1968)

Dear Dr. Belkin: This letter comes for one reason only – a deep and thoroughly justified guilt-feeling. To my utter dismay, I was once again unable to attend a significant celebration of your 25th anniversary at Yeshiva! There are very good reasons for my not attending – but they are irrelevant to the fact that as a student, a friend, and a life-long admirer of my רבי, it is my business to attend and it is my loss and I fail to show him honor...

Biographical Material