Rabbi Lamm to Percival Goodman: Synopsis of Requirements (1956)

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Shemoneh Esrei (1967)

I. סמיכת גאולה לתפילה – prayer not an abstract philosophical exercise; but request of intimate knowledge [Hassidic: just as can't philosophize by praying, you can't pray by philosophizing]. _______ Knowledge means experience – or History. Thus גאולה looks to תפילה. II. ד' שפתי תפח – prayer to prayer – כוונה – עבודה שבלב. III. Structure – 3 parts – 1st 3, middle 12 (or 13), last 3. A) 1st 3 – שבח – servant homage to master b) 2nd group – בקשה – servant requests, petition, (eliminated שבת ויו"ט)

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The Synagogue: Convenience or Conviction (1961)

The post war growth of the synagogue is a phenomenon with which, simultaneously, it was noticed that there was no corresponding growth in observances or depth in commitment. This paradox has occupied the attention of sociologists and religious thinkers. The various analyses offered are: A. The general move of the population from the cities to suburbia meant that many people found themselves rootless with no previous population with which to conform. Hence the synagogue became the social center stabilizing the new society of uprooted ex-urbanites. B. Will Herberg's – thesis that the way to "belong" to American society is via one of the three channels of: Jew – Protestant – Catholic. The affiliation with one of these groups, therefore, is no reflection upon religious commitments; it is merely a way of being an American.C. In this atomic age the iminen^e־'of cosmic cataclysm is a most important factor. People are, uncounciously, aware of the end of all existence just around the corner. They therefore are more painfully aware of the emptiness of life and hence are returning to religion.The first two indicate that the new return to religion is basically superficial and more sociological than spiritual in nature. The last one is much more con-sequential, and cannot be discussed at any length tonight.All the three analyses mentioned are partially true. But the ־three of them together do not exhaust the whole truth. I do not think that we can, as yet, know the whole truth, for we are in the very middle of the process. Only time will tell, and with greater prospective in the future we shall be able to analyze it better.Does that mean that I am a pessimist? No, I am a realist. I know that so far the results are very poor, but that we have the conditions which, with a great burst of energy and determination, can lead us to create a great future. But I am dissatisfied with the present. Story: Khruschev proposes to Kennedy that he is willing to settle all cold war problems and …

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