Dear Israel: I have just returned this past week to New York but I want to let you know at once how grateful I am to you for your hospitality and the assistance you so graciously offered me at every step. In Israel I had more than one occasion to sing your praises. I talked about you to Bet Aryeh, Shragai, and all other officials down the line. I do hope that by now you have a working relationship with A. D. Jhirad concerning the educational work of the UOJCI. It will still take some time until I can put into effect all the plans and fill all the requisitions but I hope that in due time all will be done.My very best regards to Yechiel and Mrs. Michael.Cordially yours,Rabbi Norman Lamm

Dear Mr. Kelman, Thank you very much for sending me the copies of your letters of June 25th and July 6th. I trust that you received in the meantime Rabbi Lamm's reply, dated July 16th. We here, too, are very much disturbed by some of the statements published in “Mebasser” and by some of the negative tendencies. I have made our feelings very clear to Mr. Jhirad and I hope that it will have the desired effect. The Bene Israel community is, of course, terribly excited about the problem of their marriage disabilities, and allowances must be made. Still, it is not our purpose to support the publication of personal attacks and of anti-Israel material.I hope that in the meantime Dr. Warhaftig has found a rabbi to come to India with full authorization of the Chief Rabbinate, to take care of the pending Gittin. In my letter to Mr. Jhirad, I have made it a point to stress our complete agreement with this proposed procedure.Rabbi Lamm, in his reply of July 16th, has made his annotations to your proposed booklet of prayers. I would like to submit for your consideration the inclusion of *Emet Veyatziv* until *Go'el Yisrael.* I base my recommendation on the fact that the Mishnah ordains the *Berachah Acharonah* in the same way as the preceding two *Berachot.*Our printer tells me that it would be much more practical to reproduce the pictures of our kashruth booklet by photo offset rather than sending you the blocks—or, as we call them here, the cuts—of these photos. Still, if you prefer the blocks, we will send them to you. For your convenience, I am enclosing a set of these photos so that you may ascertain the opinion of your printer on this question.Permission to reprint this booklet or parts of it is, of course, gladly granted. The same applies to all other publications you may wish to translate in toto or in part. As Rabbi Lamm wrote you, Mr. Jhirad has a supply of our booklets available, among them our pamphlets on the Jewish festivals.With kindest personal regards, I amVery…

Dear Mr. Kalman: Thank you for sending me the copy of your letter to Rabbi Norman Lamm, dated July 27, 1962. Rabbi Lamm and I discussed the subject matter of your communication and, since Rabbi Lamm is still on his vacation, I take the liberty of replying. We are most hesitant to agree to a procedure which would involve the collection of funds by an individual for the purpose of sending a rabbi to India. The reasons are obvious and even under the best of circumstances, the choice of the rabbi and his future relations to the responsible organs of the Jewish community would be open to grave questions. We agree, therefore, wholeheartedly to your suggestion to Mr. Menashe not to write to Rabbi Halberstein.To the best of our information, Chief Rabbi Nissim is presently not inclined to send a rabbi to India. His feelings have been understandably bruised by the violent attacks directed against him by some members of the Bene Israel community in recent months. Still, we believe, people close to him should impress upon him that the situation calls not so much for the in principle very justified protection of the dignity and authority of the Chief Rabbi and the Chief Rabbinate, but for a great deal of forbearance and statesmanship.Possibly the plan you outline in your previous communication to the effect that a qualified rabbi be sent periodically to India, for one or two months twice a year, to take care of Gittin and kindred problems, would be acceptable to Chief Rabbi Nissim. The Orthodox Union, through its Joint Overseas Commission, would, of course, cooperate financially.With kindest regards and all good wishes, in behalf of Rabbi Lamm, I amVery sincerely yours,Dr. Samson R. WeissExecutive Vice PresidentMr. I. KalmanThe Jewish AgencyP.O.B. 1979Bombay 1, INDIA

Excerpt: As I wrote to you when I was last in Israel, I discussed the position here with Dr. Warhaftig, the Minister of Religions, who agreed to send a rabbi immediately to deal with divorces, conversions, etc. At the beginning of this month, we received cables to the effect that Rabbi Chugi Abudi, the Av Beth Din of Jerusalem, was being sent here for six weeks. After a series of cables, the proposed *schlichut* was cancelled for the following reasons:The tense situation here as a result of marriage difficulties for the Bene-Israels in Israel.He is an Iraqi – not a very wise choice.I had not collected all the documentation regarding all the cases pending.After considering the whole project, I have suggested to Dr. Warhaftig that it may be advisable to arrange for a rabbi from London or America to come here to deal with the abovementioned problems. For an Israeli to come, it would be interpreted by a rather voluble opposition as an Israeli directive and probably take on a political tinge. I am of the opinion that the above selection would be an English rabbi since India is part of the Commonwealth, whereas I have my serious doubts if a rabbi from America belonging – as he must do – to one of the trends would be acceptable by all sections of the community here.However, if a rabbi from the Orthodox Union would come to India to serve the community for a period of one or two years, I have little doubt that within a short period of time, we could influence the Conservative and Reform groups to accept his rulings on these problems which are causing so much difficulty.THE ABOVE WAS SIGNED BY ISRAEL KALMAN

Dear Rabbi Lamm, My sincere apologies for having delayed in replying to your letter of 9th January but I have been extremely busy and no definite agreement had, till recently, been arrived at. After lengthy discussions a proposal has been put forward that the 2 rabbis, viz. Rabbi Gotthold and Rabbi Kushelevsky will come to Bombay under the patronage of the two Presidents of the leading Synagogue organizations, viz. United Synagogues of India and The Union of Orthodox Synagogues They will not come as 'shelichim' of the Rabbinate in Israel nor under the auspices of the Jewish Agency. In this way we will negate to the utmost any opposition which is bound to arise. On this matter we have had the full cooperation of Mr. Penkar and Mr. Jhirad and, with the able leadership of Mr. Albert Menasseh, the above solution was arrived at. The President of the United Synagogues of India has accepted the proposal in principle but it is yet to be ratified by the Council. I shall be leaving for Israel this week and will meet Dr. Warhaftig to discuss the matter. Wishing you and your family a Pesach Kasher Sameach Yours sincerely, Israel Kelman

Dear Rabbi Lamm, Much time has elapsed and much has occurred since I last wrote to you. However, silence should not be understood as lack of activity in those matters in which we were, in the past, in more regular contact. In a week's time, I shall be leaving India and will be returning to Jerusalem. My successor, Mr. Moshe Felber, has already arrived and is acquainted with all aspects of the work and, particularly, the matter appertaining to the Union of Orthodox Synagogues. Allow me to give you a brief report of Rabbi Gotthold's visit and subsequent developments. Prior to his arrival, I was in Israel and had discussions with Dr. Warhaftig, Chief Rabbi Nissim and Rabbi Dov Katz, Director of the Rabbinical Courts to discuss the proposed 'mishlachat' of Rabbinim. I later proceeded to London and took the matter up with the Beth Din, hoping to obtain through them, or with the help of the Hacham Gaon, whom I also met, the third person for the above 'mishlachat'. However, to no avail. Finally, on my return to Israel, a meeting took place with Rabbi Dov Katz, Rabbi Gotthold, Rabbi Kusherlevsky, Av Beth Din of Beersheba, Mr. Shlomo Shamit of the Aliyah Department, Jerusalem, and myself.It was agreed that I would return to Bombay and, only when the *green light' was given, then Rabbi Gotthold would arrive and prepare the ground for the other two members of the Beth Din. On my return, I found that the Opposition had strengthened considerably but, eventually, we were able to form a non-official reception committee comprising of Me. Albert Manasseh and Mr. Shalome A braham, President of the United Synagogues of India. Whilst we were still negotiating with other groups, Rabbi Gotthold arrived. He was faced with a number of incompatible requests:That since he was receiving support from the Union of Orthodox Synagogues in America, he must ”represent them here".That it would be a grave mistake to appear in any way to favour or to ally himself with any particular group since, by d…