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April 1998

Open Letter to Dr. Norman Lamm (1988)

Torah Umadda Jewish Unity Orthodoxy & Other Denominations
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A Rejoinder (1988)

Dear Dr. Lamm, I am delighted that you have taken the time to respond to my open letter to you. It was written to elicit a response and a clarification of your views. However, your letter leaves me with gnawing and troubling concerns. I hope that you will not misinterpret the sharpness of my comments as a personal attack. Indeed, only by honestly confronting the issues can we come to grips with the rather serious repercussions that followed upon The New York Times article reporting your Fifth Avenue speech. By now it is clear that in my open letter to you I faithfully ascribed to you the views that you truly embrace. It is also clear that from beginning to end, The New York Times article was a misrepresentation of the truth. In fact, it would be accurate to describe it as a caricature of the views that you so dearly hold. You have made it clear that you are deeply offended by both the terminology and the false image that the Times created — yet you sat idly by and did nothing to set the record straight. You criticize me for not checking the news report with you, to determine what you really said. Chaval! Why did you not check the news report with yourself? You spoke to an audience of four hundred. But for the world and posterity, your words will be those that were reported by the Times. It is to those words that you and I had to respond. The Times attributed to you terms such as “ultra-Orthodox” and “fundamentalist” as references to the “Right.” It further intimated that the “Right” was not open to secular culture. This image of the Orthodox Right as fundamentalist Bible-belt know-nothings is one that the Times generally has portrayed. Your own view is diametrically opposed. You have made it clear that you are deeply offended by both the terminology and the false images that the Times created — yet you sat idly by and did nothing to set the record straight. You say the Times reported the “valid groupings and spiritual dignity” remarks out of context. In order to un…
Torah Umadda Jewish Unity Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim

Article

An Open Reply to Professor Aaron Twerski (1988)

Dear Professor Twerski: In the April 1988 issue of The Jewish Observer you take me to task for a lecture I gave on March 2, reported in The New York Times the following day. While I would have preferred the courtesy of your checking the report with me, I do appreciate the respectful and relatively moderate tone of your polemic. And I am grateful to the editors of JO for the opportunity to set the record straight and correct the erroneous inferences and unfortunate misinterpretations, many of which are reflected in your “open letter” to me. First, a word about nomenclature. The words “ultra-Orthodox” and “fundamentalist” were not and are not part of my vocabulary. Indeed, in the lecture I explicitly rejected the use of such pejorative epithets. I referred to “the Right” (which I consider a relative term) and Charedim. Moreover, the only mention I made of Hasidism was to bemoan the absence of adequate Hasidic enthusiasm in my own “Centrist” community. Second, I fail to understand why you brought up the matter of mechitzah other than to question whether my views are at variance with those of my own rebbe, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik שליט״א. If so, may I inform you that some thirty years ago I wrote what was probably the longest and most widely disseminated defense of mechitzah and critique of Conservatism. I spoke about it across the country and risked my own rabbinic position on its account. My views have not changed. Third, regarding the attitude to secular culture, your response is disappointing. It is insulting to ascribe to me the view that those who do not subscribe to Torah U’Madda are “know-nothings and country bumpkins.” Has ve-halilah! Most of my rebbeim, whom I adored and revered, lacked secular education and yet were paragons of wisdom. Would you accuse the advocates of Torah im Derech Eretz of such contempt for East European Jewry which opposed them? Your assertion that because “right-wing” Jewry is “setting the agenda in so many areas” it somehow prove…
Torah Umadda Jewish Unity Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

Correspondence

Letter to Herbert Tenzer Expressing Concern about Jewish Unity and Joint Bet Din Proposal (1986)

Dear Herbert, I am responding to your letter of December 24th regarding Alfred Moses’s invitation to a January 20 meeting. Jewish unity is vital, especially now when it is so often under attack, and I strongly support dialogue marked by respect and delicacy. Yet I must stress – as the one who first raised the idea of a joint Bet Din last March – that excessive publicity is the surest way to kill the initiative. I am engaged in quiet diplomacy to move this difficult dream forward, and the American Jewish Committee’s public meetings – however well-intentioned – risk making such efforts impossible, much like performing neurosurgery with a butcher’s cleaver. Please urge them to avoid press releases or public pronouncements if they truly want success. More broadly, I fear Jewish unity has been turned into a weapon against Orthodoxy by those who tolerate intermarriage without even Reform conversion, who co-officiate with priests, and who now press patrilineal descent – while simultaneously condemning us for upholding halakhah. As a moderate Orthodox voice, I have spoken out against our extremists, but I cannot accept being unjustly bludgeoned by slogans of unity when others boycott MKs, threaten the UJA, or demand blanket institutional support in Israel. I urge you to attend these meetings, to articulate firmly the Orthodox position with dignity, and to work for real unity that does not come at the cost of halakhic principle. Forgive the length of this response; I trust you will keep it private for now. Mindy joins me in warm regards to Florrie, with prayers for her health, and best wishes for a joyous Hanukkah. Cordially, Norman Lamm.
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim