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Correspondence

Nov. 21, 1985

Letter to R. Elberg about Holiday Sacrifices (1985)

General Jewish Thought
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Note

Thoughts on the Nature of Holidays (1978)

As conclusion of the sheur, I mentioned that we have from this Halakhic analysis an insight into the nature of Judaism's psychology. All the Festivals are observed irrespective of contemporary conditions. They are a question of dipping into the past and reliving the experience of the Exodus, Purim, etc. However, the fast days are always contingent upon contemporary conditions. If the Jewish political and social condition in the world is poor, the fasting is obligatory; if they are mixed, the fast days are optional; if they are salutary, the fast days are converted into holidays (i.e., days on which it is forbidden to fast or eulogize). This means that the observance of the fast day is part of a continaum which began with the historically traumatic occasion which set it into motion. There is no reliving of an old experience, but rather the contemporary expression of a long chain of events.This leads one to the conclusion that joy and festivity are part of the nature of the Jewish soul per se, they are ontological characteristics of the Jew. Hence, even if there is no continuum of external, historical events which would warrant celebration, we relive ancient memories because the Jewish soul itself is rich in such expression. When it comes to the expression of bereavement, however, there is nothing ontological about suffering and, hence, if there is no contemporary situation which waraants the grief expression, it is totally ignored.
General Jewish Thought

Correspondence

Letter to Former Student about His High-Holiday Observance (1966)

Dear Richard: You probably will be surprised to receive this letter, especially since it has been some time that we have talked with each other. Nevertheless, I do hope that the surprise will be a pleasant one. I met your father recently and he told me of the manner in which you spent the High Holidays in Cleveland. I was so very delighted and so very pleased (and I need not tell you that your father was at least equally delighted and pleased), that I decided to write to you and to thank you. I thank you because, in a way, hearing this kind of news vindicates all the work that I put in to the Springfield Hebrew Day School years ago. It retroactively informs me that my efforts were not all wasted if a Richard Kagan can retain enough from his precollege background to walk to services and observe the Holy Days in the appropriate manner, Thank you again, Richard, and congratulations, too, upon making your parents so proud of you.I look forward to much good news from you in the future. Mrs. Lamm wants to be remembered to you and we hope that we shall have the opportunity of meeting on many happy occasions as the years pass.Cordially yours,Rabbi Norman LammNL/fzP.S. A friend of mine, Mrs. Sally Lewis, teaches in the Biology Department at Western Reserve and her son Aaron is a graduate student. They are very, very fine human beings and good Jews who hail from Calcutta. Please give them my regards when you see them.
General Jewish Thought Jewish Education

Correspondence

Letter to R. Weingarten about Isaac's Blessings to Jacob (1996)

Dear Uzi: Thank you for your piece ויצא חס and the (ethical) problem of the גניבת הברכות. I think you are on target, and your analysis is basically correct (i.e., in consonance with the moral perspective of the Torah and its tendency not to be overtly judgmental but to allow the lesson to be derived from the sequence of the narrative). I liked especially your insights regarding the "name" matter – the literary juxtaposition is beautiful! Time does not permit me to expand on this theme, and we'll have to leave it for when we next meet, אי״ה. Hence, just a few comments, mostly in the nature of תניא דמסייע ליה: 1) See Abarbanel on the beginning of ויצא, where he attributes Jacob's dream to his troubled conscience about stealing the blessings from Isaac. 2) Either Casuto or Benno Jacob has an excellent analysis of the whole incident (similar to yours). One of the things that stands out in my memory: Jacob deceived his father by substituting himself, a younger brother, for an older sibling, exploiting the darkness of his father's blindness. The punishment – מדה כנגד מדה – comes when Laban substitutes an older daughter for her younger sibling under the cover of literal darkness. 3) See Netziv's העמק דבר on ותקח את הצעיף ותתכס as being a symbolic act which colored the relationship of Isaac and Rebecca – a failure in communication between husband and wife, which impeded their talking out problems in their family, which meant they worked at cross purposes even though they really had the same goals in mind – thus creating a situation where deceit became "necessary." That's all for now. Keep them coming – especially the ones you really like. And forgive me if I don't always reply; you may be sure I read carefully what you send. Cordially, Norman Lamm
General Jewish Thought