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Apr. 14, 1969

Letter to R. Yaakov Jacobs about the Emerging Moderate Tone in The Jewish Observer (1969)

Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim
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Dear Rabbi Lamm: Having read your article in the May–June, 1969 issue of Jewish Life, I believe the author of the attached has misstated your thesis and you might want to reply. I bring this to your attention just in case you have not seen it. Best regards from both Hedy and myself. R. Jasper
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Dear Rabbi Lamm: I meant to send you a copy of the review of your book, but just didn't get around to it. "Hedge of Roses" certainly comes up to the high standards you have set in your literary work. I've just seen a copy of Jewish Life and am looking forward to reading your piece on the New Theology. I can easily imagine the many demands made on your time, yet I would like to invite you to write for The Observer. Subject matter is up to you, but it is a good idea to let me know what you plan to avoid possible duplication.Should it not be possible for you to write an article, perhaps you might care to comment on some matter discussed in our publication. We are most anxious to hear from people like yourself, I might say, even more so if you have some critical comments.Please let me hear from you.
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Dear Rabbi Lamm: During the past month I have been traveling in the U.S., visiting Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, AZ, and Los Angeles. Along the way I had the opportunity to teach Torah, and early next week I will send you “Words that Heal, Words that Hurt,” a sermon that I delivered in three shuls. Today’s message is a unique one, in that it does not look at a text but contains some thoughts and feelings about current events, specifically about how Jews treat Jews. There are now close to thirty rabbis, educators, and academics who receive these divrei Torah once or twice a month. The list cuts across denominational lines and includes Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Jewish Renewal – there are also some Christian readers. This serves as an important reminder that whatever our differences, we can find common ground studying Torah in an environment of mutual respect. Some of my non-Orthodox colleagues have indicated to me that they will speak on Rosh Hashanah about religious pluralism in Israel and the tension between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews. Many have personally experienced, or have congregants who have personally experienced, verbal or physical abuse from ultra-Orthodox Jews this past summer in Jerusalem. This is a very painful subject for me. The morning after Shavuot, when I saw the headlines describing the abuse of Jews at the Kotel, I was sick to my stomach. Shortly thereafter I spoke with a Jewish Renewal couple who came to Israel to live more fully as Jews – they were at the Kotel on Shavuot night, and listening to them describe what they were subjected to, and how poisoned they felt, was one of the saddest experiences I have had. Two months later, on Tisha b’Av night, TV cameras brought into my home the sight of Jewish police physically evicting Jews from the Kotel in the middle of davening Ma’ariv. This was followed by the burning of a Reform kindergarten in a Jerusalem suburb. It has been a very difficult summer. My own struggles …
Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim