Letter to R. Joseph Baumol about Religious Involvement in Israel Council for Jewish-Arab Cooperation (1965)

View The Text

This content is currently available in its original PDF format. As we expand the library, we plan to add a text version as well.

Letter to Dr. Belkin about Proposal for Founding Institute of Jewish Research (1966)

Dear Dr. Belkin: I am enclosing, at your request, a copy of the brief proposal originally composed for the founding of an Institute of Jewish Research. A good deal of thought had gone into the specific problems that ought to be researched. These have not been enumerated in the enclosed proposal for reasons of brevity. If, however, you would want me to outline them, I should only be too glad to do so. Cordially yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm.

Interfaith

Letter from R. Arthur Hertzberg about Serving on the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (1972)

Dear Norman: You have probably by now forgotten that you consented to serve on a study committee that I was constituting to deal with a comparable committee of the World Council of Churches. That effort, which was to have begun a year ago, ran into some difficulty internally within our own Jewish group. Our Christian colleagues have since broadened the object of the study much more broadly than we were willing to agree to, involving in theological issues that are of a kind that are beyond the purview of this organization. There has now been agreement by the constituent agencies of JUCEPO to put a position paper, which I am enclosing. The comparable Christian committee is quite international and includes such distinguished figures as Stendahl of Harvard and Marquardt of Berlin. It has now been agreed that there will be the first meeting of these two groups in Geneva between April 27 and 28, and then that we two committees might meet once for further days. The agenda is, essentially, to work out an agenda, that is, to agree on the topics to be covered and the approaches to be taken. I am enclosing for your perusal the copy of our position paper. What would be helpful in addition is if each of our committee were to direct his thoughts to a preliminary outline, a kind of rough sketch of an agenda, on one or the other of the topics which will be discussed. I therefore would like to know from you by return mail whether you intend to go to the meeting in Geneva so that I might then suggest some division of the work for your preliminary consideration. I want to add that out-of-pocket expenses will be borne by the International Jewish Committee, including, of course, your travel to Geneva. Looking forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience, I am, Most cordially yours, Arthur Hertzberg, Chairman. P.S. It is most important that I know immediately whether you are going to Geneva, because if not, I will have to find a substitute for you. Let me refresh your memory…

Interfaith

Letter to R. Fabian Schonfeld about Jewish-Christian Dialogue (1973)

Dear Fabian: As you had requested, I am returning to you the enclosed copy of Siegman’s report on the two consultations. I hope you do not mind that I made some penciled comments in the margins. With one or two exceptions they should prove legible and relevant. In short, while I had a number of criticisms on this report, and a number of inaccuracies, I do not find anything in it that would get me excited about violations of the standards we had set for such dialogues.All my best.Cordially,Norman.:cwEnc.

Interfaith