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2003

RIETS Dinner Honoring Dr. Lamm, 2003

Yeshiva University Biographical Material

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Speech

A Look Back... Dr. Norman Lamm's Presidential Investiture Address (2003)

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Boards of Yeshiva University, distinguished guests of the academic community, fellow members of our faculties, my revered teachers, worthy rabbis, my dear family, students, alumni, and friends of Yeshiva University.I am deeply moved by you who have assembled to join me in this ceremony of investiture as president of Yeshiva University. It is on this very platform that I received my doctorate ten years ago. Even more am I honored by the confidence placed in me by the trustees in entrusting to me the destiny of this great citadel of learning, which nurtured me spiritually and intellectually from the time I was 18 years old.However, this investment is tempered by two factors: first, I fully realize that it is not I but Yeshiva University which is being honored by you at this occasion. It is Yeshiva to which you, and I, express our gratitude for 91 years of unexcelled academic and communal leadership.Second, I feel humble indeed to have been summoned to follow two of the most innovative and gifted spiritual leaders in the history of the American Jewish community — Dr. Bernard Revel, of blessed memory, the first president of Yeshiva University, and his successor and my immediate predecessor and teacher. Dr. Samuel Belkin, may he rest in peace. I revered Dr. Belkin as an inspired teacher; I loved him as a man, as a friend, as a mentor. His giant mantle feels all too large on these narrow shoulders.Nevertheless, I am mindful of the saying of an ancient sage, "(What the great) Samuel (was) in his generation, (the lesser) Jephtah (was) in his generation." I know that I cannot equal my predecessors. I pray only that I may prove to be of as much service to my generation as they were to theirs.I suppose that every speech produces its own Weltschmerz and issues its own solemn jeremiads. Yet it is undeniable that depression and gloom and foreboding seem to be the hallmarks of our particular time. We are the generation of Vietnam and Watergate. Econom…
Yeshiva University Biographical Material

Article

Dr. Lamm Invested as Third YU President; Pledges Advancement of Torah 'U'Mada (1976)

Over 1800 members of the ad­ministration, faculty members, students and friends of Yeshiva University gathered on Danziger Campus on November 7, 1976, to honor Dr. Norman Lamm on the occasion of his investiture as the third President of Yeshiva Univer­sity. The event was the culmination of a year-long search for a new President of the University to suceed Dr. Samuel Belkin, Z”l. Dr. Israel Miller, Vice President of YU, praised the genius and talent of Dr., Lamm’s two predecessors, Presidents Belkin and Revel, and referred to Dr. Lamm’s ap­pointment as a “new volume” in YU’s history. “He is one of our own,” stated Dr. Miller, citing Dr. Lamm’s own past experiences as both student and teacher at Yeshiva University.Miriam Kopeiman, a 1976 graduate of Stern College and presently a itrst-year student at Cordozo law school, expressed her approval of Dr. Lamm’s ap­pointment, as a representative of the YU student community. She praised Dr. Lamm’s talent for un­derstanding the problems of the contemporary Jewish woman declaring that through his efforts the two worlds of Torah and Madra are combined in unity and synthesis. Speaking on behalf of the student body, Ms. Kopeiman expressed the warmth, respect, and trust which she holds for Dr. Lamm.Also representing his fellow students at YU, Larry Eisenberg, a 1975 graduate of Yeshiva Univer­sity and presently a second-year medical student at the Albert Ein­stein College of Medicine, ex­pressed his admiration of Dr. Lamm as the personification of the philosophy of Torah and Mada which are the ultimate goals of the University. Mr. Eisenberg elaborated upon the problems which face Dr. Lamm as he enters his new position, and expressed his optimism that Dr. Lamm will sue- cessfully attack the challenges which await him.The New York State Com­missioner of Education, Ewald B. Nyquist, delivered a lighthearted but sincere speech praising Dr. Lamm and warning him of the tremendous odds which he will face in his new position. Now, says C…
Yeshiva University Biographical Material

Speech

Yeshiva University Investiture of Rabbi Doctor Norman Lamm 11/7/1976

Rabbi Lamm is honored by Yeshiva University. Order of speakers: Dean David Mirsky; National Anthem - Cantor Paul Glasser; Invocation - Rabbi Max Schreier VP Student Affairs - Dr. Israel Miller; Miriam Kopelman; Dr. Lawrence Eisenberg; New York State Education Commissioner - Ewald B. Nyquist; US Representative - Herbert Tenzer; Jack D. Weiler; Max J Etra; Max Stern; Rabbi Doctor Norman Lamm; Benediction - Rabbi Maurice Lamm; Hatikvah - Cantor Paul Glasser.
Yeshiva University Biographical Material