Dear Rabbi Lamm: It was thoughtful of you to send me a reprint of your article on dialogue. Of course, I agree with everything that you say, although it seems to me that your argument would not permit Orthodox participation in the Boston Conference. At any rate, I am pleased that both the RCA and UOJCA will not be in attendence. With best wishes, Sincerely, Marvin Schick

Dear Rabbi Lamm: My purposes in writing are two. First, I would like to get your advice on a matter that has been brought to our attention by Yavneh. We have been asked to draft legislation that would bar colleges in this state from requiring students who eat kosher food to participate in compulsory board plans. As you know from your own intervention, the school most directly involved is Barnard, which up to now, has refused to relax its board requirements to accommodate orthodox students. It should not be difficult to draft the legislation and to get it passed by the legislative. However, it is unlikely that such a law would be signed by the Governor, given the expected strong opposition of the state’s colleges. Accordingly, it might be best to continue attempts to persuade Barnard to give relief to the students. However, before making any decision, we would appreciate the benefit of your advice.The second matter concerns COLPA finances. As you know, we are in a precarious position and have tried to enlist the support of the various Orthodox organizations. Unfortunately, after two years – and considerable effort – we have received a total of $950 from all organizations. As a result, we owe money to our legal printer and just do not know how much longer we will be able to continue.This is all very sad, because I sincerely believe that we have demonstrated our value to the community. In the last few weeks alone, we have been active in a number of key areas. The New York Court of Appeals, in an historic decision, accepted the position we took and sustained the state's Textbook Law; representing all major Orthodox organizations, we have had notable success in the two suits launched by the American Jewish Congress attaching the constitutionality of the Federal Aid to Education Law; we negotiated an agreement with Police Commissioner Leary providing that police will stop harassing Orthodox shopkeepers who do business on Sunday; and we have played a major role in securin…

As much as many of us would like it to go away, the problem of Union membership in the Synagogue Council is still with us. The reason for this is plain: the issue goes to the heart of Orthodox unity and development in this country; it is not an irrelevant polemic that the foes of SCA continue to wave. In this memorandum I would like to develop the view that continued membership in SCA is inimical to the welfare of the UOJCA and the Orthodox Community and that our leadership must face up to this question, at the convention or otherwise, in a responsible and courageous fashion. 1. SCA was formed in the 1920’s at a time when Orthodox Jewry in this country was weak. Indisputably, if the question today was whether to join, our response would be negative, for the situation is much improved over what it was forty years ago. Yet, we are being told to confront the challenges of the latter third of this century in terms of an enervated Orthodoxy of more than a generation ago. We reject this attitude in other areas such as Chinuch, and we ought to do the same here. 2. From its inception until now the SCA has not contributed in any way to the observance of Halacha or to the general welfare of the Torah world. The proponents of continued membership do not controvert this, nor do they advance any positive reasons for the maintenance of a status quo which is contrary to the changing situation of Orthodox Jewry. The virtues of belonging to SCA are negative, amounting, in fact, to straw men easily knocked down, and to fears that are born out of a lack of confidence in Orthodox vitality.3. But the case against SCA does not rest on the mere inefficacy of this antiquarian umbrella. The organization, even with the Orthodox veto, has acted contrary to our interests, as in the quickly forgotten Boston conference of last year. Indeed whenever the SCA decides to do something more than issue pro forma statements on public matters it is apt to act counter to our conception of its purpose. So…

Dear Marvin: I know that you are on the Lindsay team, and are not responsible for any of the Jewish public relations for Sandy Garelik. Nevertheless, I assume you are in a better position to be heard than I am. I received the enclosed material yesterday or the day before, and have been stewing over it. I can very well understand that a candidate for public office should be evaluated in terms of civic merit only, and not in terms of his religious observance. But if Garelik is going to appeal to me by virtue of his Jewishness, then I must resentfully throw the whole thing back at him.There is mention of his marriage — but it is public knowledge that he is married out of the faith. My own feeling is that this kind of propaganda is harmful to everyone concerned and will do nothing to enhance Garelik's campaign efforts.When you have a few moments free from the Lindsay efforts, since your man is going to win anyway, you might try referring these sentiments, but not this letter, to your counterpart in Garelik's headquarters.Good luck.Cordially yours,NL/egEnclosures

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I'm in between classes at Bar-Ilan, which is as good a time as any to begin a letter of this sort. When it will be finished, I can't say since I'm certain that it will be that long. First, an apology and an explanation. The former for the difficulty you will encounter if you attempt to read the whole thing. My handwriting, if one can employ such a word here, is rotten to begin with and goes downhill after the first half-hour or so. I'm sorry,

Dear Rabbi Lamm: A number of Orthodox Jewish groups and leaders have asked to meet with Mayor Lindsay to discuss matters of importance to the community and to the City. In response to these requests, a meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, at 5 p.m. in the Blue Room of City Hall. Because you are an important leader of the Orthodox Jewish community, it would be most beneficial if you could attend this meeting. The Mayor would very much like to have your views on the matters to be discussed.With best wishes and the hope that you will be able to participate on March 18, I am.Sincerely, Marvin Schick

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I would like to share with you an experience that I had yesterday. At my request, I met with Max Stern at his office at Hartz Mountain. My purpose was to raise with him my feeling that the Orthodox groups are so mired in organizational mess that they are hardly capable of meeting the challenges and opportunities now before us. I also wanted to propose how we might be of help both within and outside of the Orthodox community to younger people who wanted to get things moving.But I was not able to accomplish what I set out to do. For much of the time, Mr. Stern discussed his work in a large number of Orthodox and non-Orthodox groups; how when he came to America our community was sickly; and how now it is at least in some sense thriving.And it hit me that to say what I wanted to say would be cruel and also purposeless. For here was a man of immense charity and goodwill, who had brought dignity and honor to our people and had worked for and seen advances that decades ago were at best dreams. A good deal of his fortune and time and passion and genius had really been given so that persons like myself would have the opportunity to say that we have so much more to do. He had been in a desert and had planted; and even if most was still desert he had shown that Torah-vegetation was real.And so I was happy for him, and proud that we had him. And yet I left the meeting with a deep feeling of despair, which lingers, still.How lucky are those of a Dor Hamidbar who have both vision and the means to accomplish. Yet, their good deeds inexorably have forms which are our organizations and these organizations, purposeful in their times and no doubt noble in intent, shackle those who want to plant and create anew. They take our time and dedication and channel them into endless meetings, conventions, dinners, etc. which ensure that there will be more meetings, conventions, dinners, etc.I feel like Sisyphus; but unlike Camus' gloss, I am not happy.With affection and best …

Dear Marvin: I was glad to see you and have you accompany us at the Exodus March for Soviet Jewry on April 26th. I am sure you will agree that the thousands of people present (and there were, to my mind, closer to 30,000 than the 20,000 reported in the media) constituted a powerful moral force on behalf of our cause. The reason I write to you – and this is being done in a purely personal capacity, especially since I intend shortly to relinquish my post as Chairman of the New York Conference on Soviet Jewry – is to impress upon your associates how grievously they misjudged the situation.Every politician of note, especially those interested in either securing or retaining the political allegiance of this segment of the electorate, was present and participated. The crowds responded to them enthusiastically. Lindsay was not there—and I flinched and blanched when, upon announcing receipt of his telegram, his name was greeted with loud booing.I heard comments about it later in the afternoon. People wanted to know why, of all prominent officials, he was absent. The old, pre-election animosity towards Lindsay was reawakened. The most current remark referred to the fact that this was not a municipal election year, and so “Lindsay doesn’t need us.”I need not tell you that this will do him no good; voters’ memories are not that short. I fear that those who advised the Mayor against coming have misled him and done him a real disservice. I am genuinely sorry about this, because I like the man.Sincerely yours,RABBI NORMAN LAMM NL/e

Dear Marvin: I haven’t responded to your letter of May 7th because of the overwhelming press of weight of my own work and burdens. I am truly sorry, but I am not in position to act on your problem. One of the fruits of a community that is not sensitive to social issues or ethical concerns is that it doesn’t even know how to protect its own interests in society. Perhaps the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations or some such group can be prevailed upon to take the initiative, or maybe Rabbi Abraham Besdin, the new Associate Director of Rabbinical Council of America, AL 5–1900. He is an able person who can understand the significance of this project, and maybe he has some free time since he is a new man.Beyond this, I am physically incapable of following this up or anything else. If there were 50 Rabbis sensitive to the issues, then I am sure a few of them would be free to work upon it. It comes back to the same pedagogic and ethical issues that I have raised in the community. It is certainly no source of satisfaction to me to point out that you seem to be happy with trends in the community but unhappy with the fruits of such trends.I am sorry that this is all I can do at this point. I truly believe that this is an important project and regret that your own effectiveness is crippled by the unresponsiveness of the community.Sincerely yours,Irving Greenberg, Rabbi P.S. Are you sure you contacted all the proper sources? I recall going home in the car with Henry Wimpfheimer and Naftali Cohen of the Breuer community. They mentioned they were on a committee concerning “neighborhood stabilization.” Perhaps you should speak to them rather than the rabbi who may be busy and less responsive to your concerns.---June 15, 1970 Rabbi Irving Greenberg Riverdale Jewish Center 3700 Independence Avenue Riverdale, New York Dear Yitschok:Though I cannot remember the issue or the context, I seem to recall that about a year ago, in an exchange of correspondence, you wrote something quite …

Dear Marvin: It was a pleasure seeing you at the “Sukkah in the Sky” a couple of weeks ago. I assume that with the closing of the holidays, both of us have come down to earth. Permit me to burden you with a request for information which you may be in a position to obtain for me. There is a good deal of housing going up in the area just north of my synagogue. I am anxious to contact Jewish residents both for purposes of “schooling” and “shooling.” The Housing and Development Administration sent me the Directory of Publicly Aided Housing Developments, but that does not contain a list of names of tenants. Hence, two questions: 1. Is such a list of names available so that we might pick out the Jewish names? 2. Does the city have any lists of specifically Jewish tenants? Do be good enough to let me hear from you, and best regards. Cordially, Rabbi Norman Lamm