Letter to Zev Wolfson about Receiving Inspiration from "The Song of the Messiah" (1973)

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Letter to R. Soloveitchik about an Item of Interest (1962)

Dear Rabbi Soloveitchik: I thought you might be interested in the passage on the enclosed page, which completely vindicates your position. Most Respectfully Yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm.

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Letter to Bernard Wild about Receiving Tapes of Israeli Selichot Services (1969)

Dear Mr. Wild: I must apologize for my rather vague remark to you about the tapes when I saw you on Shabbat. When my secretary gave them to me, I took them home, but because I was leaving for out of town I did not have the opportunity to open the boxes. I did not know that you had recorded on them, and therefore assumed they were unused, and that is why I questioned you as I did. However, this Saturday night I opened them, and was delighted by the material you had recorded. My wife and I spent Saturday night listening to Koussevitzky and to the Selichot services from Israel. It was an esthetic treat, even as listening to Abba Eban was a dramatic experience. Thank you so very much, Mr. Wild, for your thoughtfulness and for your very fine selection. Cordially yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm

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Letter to Student with Advice about Pursuing a Doctorate in Jewish Studies (1974)

My dear [redacted]: Please forgive me for the delay in responding to your two letters. They were sent to me at Yeshiva University, and for a number of reasons I have not been in school for several weeks. I read the material with considerable interest. You certainly seem to be an unusual person, and I admire your ambitiousness and pluckiness – and the ethical sages of Israel always considered zerizut as an enviable trait. In keeping with your request, I am mailing your material back to you.Now, to the point of your request: my professorship in Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University is effective in the undergraduate schools. I therefore do not sponsor any doctoral dissertations, and it is not within my competence to award doctorates in my field. Unfortunately, therefore, I am incapable of helping you in this respect.Since you have confided in me so many details about your career and scholarship, as well as personal matters, permit me to react in an equally personal way, and I trust you will take my words in the very genuine spirit they are intended. I can very well understand that after having spent a lifetime striving for a certain goal, namely the doctorate, you should feel disappointed and frustrated that it still proves elusive. Nevertheless, for one who has such a wide background in Jewish learning and in classical wisdom, I wonder what a man of such erudition would say about the personal problem. In other words, if you divide yourself into two people — one with your scholarship and wisdom of experience, and the other the man who failed to achieve a specific goal which has value only in the eyes of certain segments of society — would not the first say to the second something of this sort:"Take my advice and look at things with a broader perspective. Status symbols are evanescent, they have no ultimate meaning, and therefore do not deserve to become a source of anxiety for a thinking man."Once again, forgive me for my temerity in suggesting this inner conversat…

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