Dear Rabbi Lamm, Thank you very much for your congratulations and wonderful wishes. It was really very nice of you to have taken the time to express them. By the way, my father showed me your speech on mixed pews (not in mixed pews) and I thought it was literally out of this world – in the right direction, of course. I read it, reread it, tried to memorize the arguments, and then put it in my file cabinet in case I shood forget its contents. I think that it is far and away the best treatment I have seen or heard on the subject. Congratulations! I hope you can keep doing this sort of work. It’s really excellent, Sincerely, Haskel. Regards to the rebbetzin

Dear Norman, I am serving as the co-editor of the forthcoming Rabbinical Council of America Sermon Manual. The official deadline for submission of material has already passed, and frankly, I am extremely disturbed at the choice of material currently available. I would use a far stronger word than “disturbed” – but I do not wish to trouble you too much. It is imperative, therefore, that those most skillful in homiletics contribute some sermons – preferably for holidays – for our use. Only in this way will the Manual be something of which we can be proud. May I impose upon you to prepare one or more sermons for printing and to send them to me by February 15th at the latest. I will be most appreciative, and you will be rendering an important service to our Rabbinic organization.Thank you in advance for your cooperation.Very cordially yours,PreckelHaskel Lookstein

Dear Norman: Thank you very much for sending me a copy of "A Hedge of Roses." I am looking forward to reading it and I am confident that it will fill a hitherto unfilled void (no pun intended) in this vital area of Jewish life. Best regards to the family and my best wishes to you for a happy and Kosher Pesach. Very cordially yours, Haskel Lookstein.

Dear Haskel: I am sending you a copy of a letter I just received from Herman Wouk. Has anything been done with regard to the translation? I have been requested by friends in Israel to look into the matter. Cordially, Rabbi Norman Lamm

Dear Manny: I had been in contact with some Israeli friends, and with Herman Wouk, concerning the Russian translation of This Is My God. Wouk told me that Haskel Lookstein was working on it, and I believe he wrote to you on March 21 asking whether any progress had been made on it. Would you be kind enough to let me know if anything has been done on this project. All best regards. Cordially, Rabbi Norman Lamm

Dear Haskel, Thank you for your letter of June l5th. I have sent a carbon copy of Wouk’s note to my brother in Israel who is in contact with the people who would be doing the translation – and have in fact already done a number of Russian translations. Perhaps we can get the matter fully clarified that way. It does seem to me that Wouk is entitled to a full breakdown of the costs, as well as some assurance that it will all be done in a proper way. At the same time, I was a little disappointed in his financial response.I am certain, however, that if we can get the thing under way, we can cover the cost between your congregation, Norman Lamm’s, and my own. It really is not that much money. I learned inadvertently last week, incidentally, that Mossad HaRav Kook is planning to put out a series of Bibles in the Russian language. These are designed primarily for the new olim.Please keep in touch. Best wishes for the summer.Cordially,MannyRabbi Emanuel FeldmanEF:shcc: Rabbi Norman LammDear Norman:It was good to see you in N.Y. מוסד הרב קוק might be publishing my dissertation on טומאה – טהרה. Is there anything I should know from you about possible pit-falls, etc.?Best wishes.Manny

Dear Norman: Kudos to you for the marvelous shiur-lecture on the meaning of bikur cholim. I received it in the mail from the Coordinating Council. What a marvelous presentation! The halakhic discussions, the development of differences of opinion and nuance between various authorities, and then the etymological analysis of the word bikur – it was all a model of how a popular shiur ought to be given when you want to get across both the basic concepts and values as well as a reverence for halakha and Jewish sources. But why in heaven’s name did you have to praise Ike Trainin so much at the beginning of the talk? I will never be able to live it down – he will keep reminding me of it all the time. But, between you and me, he really is a role model in both chesed and energy. HL:ff – cc: Rabbi Isaac N. Trainin

Dear Norman: I just received Some Thoughts on Leadership and I had to write with my reactions. What a majestic statement! You touched so many bases with sensitivity and elegance. I was moved by the entire speech, but particularly by your explanation of the need for compromise with its attendant principle of openness and ahavat Yisrael. The statement from the Kotzker Rebbe was so magnificently applied. The explanation of God’s handling of ernes was breathtaking. Finally, the application of the teshuva of the Terumas Ha-Deshen was so homiletically creative and practically decisive. “What holds true for a Sefer Torah must hold true for a Jewish neshama.” Simply brilliant! A Modern Orthodox leadership conference merits a highly significant statement about how we ought to function as Orthodox Jews. I so much admire your having presented that statement with eloquence and power. Very cordially yours, Haskel Lookstein. HL:ff.