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Correspondence

Oct. 30, 1974

Letter to R. Riskin about Prayers for American and Israeli Governments (1974)

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Dear Zev: Some time ago, I appeared at a meeting of the RCA Executive Committee, together with Dr. Irving Greenberg, and discussed with you and the Executive the means whereby RCA could help in the unfortunate disputes surrounding Shaare Zedek Hospital and [redacted]. At that time, the decision was to postpone any action until you personally could seek some means of solving the problem through quiet negotiation. Since I have not heard from you these past several months, I assume that these efforts were unsuccessful.I think the time has come for all of us to stand up and be counted in the matter of Shaare Zedek.I am not referring to the actual controversy concerning [redacted]. I myself happen to be a supporter and admirer of his. However, I can understand that honorable men can have a point of view different from my own, much as I might disagree with them.What I am concerned about is the degradation of this controversy into the ugliest kind of polemics that our community — often bedevilled by disruptive disputes — has suffered in a long, long time.While Orthodox organizations, who frequently express themselves on issues remote from immediate Torah concerns, have remained thunderously silent, three distinguished Orthodox Jews have suffered scandalous humiliation and insult because of their support of Shaare Zedek and \_\_. I think you will agree that Max Stern, Ludwig Jesselson, and Charles Bendheim are three of the most philanthropic Jews in Orthodox Jewry throughout the world. There is not a single worthy Jewish cause that has not benefited from their munificence. Without them, Shaare Zedek Hospital would probably not survive, let alone expand.Because of the \_\_, groups of unscrupulous hotheads, from various circles, have been picketing their offices at odd times and distributing scurrilous literature with their pictures printed on these sheets. The Chillul Hashem has been enormous, as you can well understand. Non-Orthodox Jews who have witnessed these spectacles…
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Letter to R. Siegman about His Article Regarding Criticism of Israel (1970)

Dear Henry: I am not normally the type that writes fan letters, but I received today from the R.C.A. a copy of your letter of March 26th to The Village Voice. It was more than a letter; it was a classical essay. I cherished reading every single word. You have my unbounded admiration for having said what you did so forthrightly and so well. Cordially yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm. Voice, Published weekly (Thursday) by The Village Voice, Inc.Dan Wolf, president, Edwin Fancher, secretary-treasurerSHERIDAN SQUARE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014**March 26, 1970****A Question of Truth**Dear Sir:Simple ignorance might explain why a Michael Zwerin (“Outside: London," March 5 and 12) would not know how Israel voted in the United Nations on the subject of South Africa. To assert, however, as he does, that “Abba Eban always voted against the U.N. resolutions condemning South Africa" when the very reverse is in fact the case (Israel has repeatedly voted in the U.N. to condemn South Africa and in favor of economic sanctions, even though national self-interest would have dictated at least an abstention), is to be guilty not of ignorance, but of a deliberate lie, and reveals Zwerin, or his Israeli anti-Israel friends, or both, as malicious persons intent on defaming Israel and Jews.This maliciousness is a disease that is regrettably as common as it is unsightly—a Jewish self-hatred born of an embarrassment and an inability to come to terms with the “tribalism” of Jewish faith and Israeli nationalism.That this phenomenon is indeed a disease and not a noble universalist impulse is evident from the fact that generally the very same people who find Israeli nationalism “racist,” “tribal,” and “parochial" are entirely uncritical in their support of the nationalisms of Third World Asian and African countries, which are invariably described as “progressive,” “revolutionary,” and strangely compatible with their universalism.One is stunned by the depth and ugliness of the pathology. Zwerin’s London h…
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Dear Nathan: It was a pleasure receiving your New Year’s card with your enthusiastic message on it. I am genuinely pleased at your affirmative reaction to Israel and that you are satisfied with and making progress in your studies. Most of all, I am delighted about your attitude to the religious problems that beset Hebrew University. Israel is a country where if you do not assert yourself you will be ignored, and if you do, you will be respected even if you are opposed. Mrs. Lamm joins me in wishing you a happy new year and a year of great success in all your works, of personal growth and happiness. Cordially, Rabbi Norman Lamm
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