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Correspondence

June 15, 1971

Letter to Jakob Michael about Russian-Language Advertisement for Gesher Foundation (1971)

Gesher Israel
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Exchange with Jakob Michael about His Donation to Gesher Foundation (1971)

Dear Mr. Michael: I know that you have long been thinking about the problem of young Jews who are estranged on the college campuses. Your support of Yavneh certainly bespeaks the great and continuing interest you have shown in this area. However, I know that you have been especially concerned with publications, especially in the realm of Jewish ethics, i.e., demonstrating to our Jewish youth the moral treasures within Judaism. If you recall, I have in the past not been overly enthusiastic about a number of projects which you mentioned to me, especially that of an anthology of ethical maxims. I was hard put to offer any alternative that might be satisfactory. However, with the present ferment on the campus, there has arisen a group of young, brilliant, and highly dedicated Jewish students who have turned from radical causes to a rediscovery of their Jewish identity. They are working on a world wide scale, attempting to link Jewish student groups on several continents. One of the most fascinating of this group is the young man (shortly to receive his doctorate in clinical psychology) who is the author of the enclosed letter and material to me.Please do me the kindness of reading his letter and glancing through his material• (I map have sent you a copy of the Haggadah he edited; if not, I enclose one herein together with some other of his material)• I believe that what he proposes is remarkably close to what you have been looking for these ! past Several years.It was good to see you at The Center this morning and I look forward to seeing you again on Shavuot and perhaps meeting with you in the park.Cordially yours,NL/hhRABBI NORMAN LAMMEnclosures
Gesher Israel

Correspondence

Letter to R. Jung about Gesher Programming (1970)

Dear Rabbi Jung, By now you must have received my postcard, although with Israel's on-again-off-again mail strikes (they alternate with the biweekly phone slow-downs) it is hard to tell when a piece of mail will arrive! However, while my first communication was a general "Hello," enough time has just about elapsed for me to have enough experience here to give you at least a preliminary idea of where we are headed in Gesher. Naturally, I can only offer rashei perakim at the present, and I hope to fill in all the rest when we meet, iyh.The job to which Gesher is dedicated is even greater than I realized at first — and I was under no illusions of excessive optimism. There is a great deal that must be done to bridge the two camps (and after every Ashkelon affair the gap grows ever wider), and the longer we wait the worse it becomes. On the other side of the ledger, however, a great deal can be done, and even if it is done on a small scale every little bit helps.As you can well imagine, I've not only been doing a lot of speaking, but also a great deal of meeting both with Danny Tropper of Lesher and with other people who ought and might be interested in its work. My impression, as a result of all this, is that we have to concentrate more in smaller areas and do the job well, rather than scatter our energies superficially in too wide a field. Our major successes have been in the age group of upper-high school students, ages 16-18. We ran a Yeshiva-University-style Youth Seminar at Gush Etzion, and the results were extremely satisfying. I hesitated to discuss it with anyone until we could check ourselves. Such a check came with a "reunion" we arranged for the youngsters over Shabbat in Jerusalem, held just about a week ago. We invited 29 of the original 30 participants (boys and girls from non-religious schools outside of Jerusalem, mostly Tel Aviv and Haifa) to participate. Two called to say they were ill! All the others returned with their enthusiasm intact. We have bee…
Gesher Israel

Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Tropper about Recruiting for Gesher (1972)

Dear Danny: It was good seeing you at the King David Hotel shortly before I left. I wonder if you had the opportunity to proceed along the lines we discussed, and what if any the results have been. I have not talked to Chaim yet, and I do not even know if he is in the country. Meanwhile, a thought occurred to me. While I was in Jerusalem, I met an old friend of mine whom I had first met in Johannesburg. He is a man who once studied in Yeshiva, is proud of his background, and even though he is still very far from an observant Jew, he is nevertheless very active in the Johannesburg synagogue. (That is the one where Solomon Fouks had been the rabbi.) I have a feeling that this man, Archie Peck, is just the sort of man who would be interested in Gesher. I believe it would be good if you indicate that someone from South Africa who knew me is willing to lend his name as a reference and that you can write to Peck at his Johannesburg address. In doing so, please mention my name and affiliation with Gesher. He is a very, very wealthy man, and he should be used. His address is P.O. Box 6060, Johannesburg. If you cannot find such a person, let me know and I will decide whether you should use my name directly. I trust that Weingarten’s ad in the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz had a salutary effect. All best regards to your wife. Cordially, Rabbi Norman Lamm
Gesher Israel