Dear Rabbi Lamm, I believe you have published a series of essays dealing with the Jewish approach to a variety of constitutional problems, among them the right of privacy. Could I ask you for offprints, if these are available? With warm regards, Cordially, Gerald J. Blidstein Ass’t Prof. of Religion

Dear Norman, Well, here I am under a new letterhead. Actually, we are spending a trial year in Israel, on leave from McGill. I really do not know yet how things will turn out, though it is apparent that it is impossible to be neutral regarding Israel as a state and as a society. I am writing, more concretely, about a project I completed some time ago, to wit, a book on kibbud av. I did it under commission of Yeshiva’s Rogozin Institute, which saw me through the writing. However, funds have long dried up, and Yeshiva has no interest in having the work published. Would you know of any foundation or individual that would have a positive attitude on the subject? The book is organized topically (I could send you a copy of the Table of Contents if you would like to see it), beginning with something on the line of talmid ha-mitzvah, and then moving into the problematics of support, challenges of authority, sick parents, “wicked” parents, etc. The materials are largely Talmud and responsa, with a fair measure of midrash and chasidut as well. I like to think that it would be a contribution to a number of scholarly areas, as well as interesting to the educated modern reader, and it does touch on a sensitive area in modern Jewish life. Incidentally, Isadore Twersky has read the work in its various stages, if you would like an opinion. With best wishes, Cordially, Gerald Blidstein

Dear Norman: Thank you ever so much for your Religious Thought of Hasidism. It is a true bounty, and for someone like myself who is rather ignorant of Hasidic thought it promises a wonderful learning experience. Once again, I can only marvel at how you manage to combine your full-time administrative responsibilities with what would seem to be your equally full-time (and varied!) intellectual pursuits. כה לחיי! Cordially, Gerald Blidstein.

Dear Norman, the packet of materials – especially the essay on Past and Future – brought home very forcibly the fact of your imminent retirement as President of Yeshiva. You certainly fought a good fight – in both senses of the term. I found the essay, which I read as soon as it arrived, very touching, to tell the truth. You describe many aspects of our life as Jews both eloquently and profoundly. There are two points I would like to relate to – one in support and one in disagreement. I think you are too gentle on the haredim. Perhaps your perspective is natural in the U.S., but not for me, and others like me, here. Many issues come to mind, but primarily their refusal to serve in the army. I have now reached the point where it is clear to me that “learning Torah” is often camouflage (I would have difficulties with it as an argument anyhow), and the real reason is not even a negative attitude toward the State but simply the unwillingness to take the risk – and the time – when you will be defended by others. It is a simple case of דמא דידיה סומק טפי, with all that implies. It is simply a horrible posture. A relative whose son does not serve said to me in explanation (!) that his son is “not really a military type” – as though my children were raised as bloodthirsty killers. So there is a profound moral divide, and it divides communities, not merely individuals. I can support your story of the rosh yeshiva who identifies YU graduates by the dual attaché case. One told me the same thing, in different terms (perhaps the same rosh yeshiva?), though he spoke of students of the Rav. I am not sure the description is really accurate – spiritual grass is also greener on the neighbor’s side. But he may be right, and I would share the explanation I like to give for the phenomenon. Since at YU you never spend all your time learning kodesh, you are also trained to the habit of learning when you are occupied with something else – secular studies, and then later, business, profess…