... A restless Lithuanian yeshiva talmid, student, who was my friend. Dr. Belkin. He also dreamt. He also became a visionary – let me tell you, Dr. Belkin’s standards of lamdus, of halakhic scholarship, were very high. He dreamt of a generation of young American Jews who would combine both an excellent Torah education with the capability of participating in the scientifically oriented and technologically minded complex American economy. However, Dr. Belkin had another dream. And this second dream was bolder, more daring than the first dream. This was his original dream. No one shared his opinion, not even people who were very close to him – he wanted to show the Jewish, as well as the non‑Jewish community, that the Orthodox Jew is as capable of establishing scientific, educational institutions as the non‑Jew or the secular Jew is. The above are excerpts of the eulogy delivered by Harav Joseph B. Soloveitchik at Dr. Belkin’s funeral, April 20, 1976. Norman Lamm Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, former spiritual leader of the Jewish Center of New York and Erna and Jakob Michael professor of Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University, was recently invested as Yeshiva’s third President following the passing of Dr. Belkin. We are deeply honored to print Dr. Lamm’s essay and we feel it is a fitting addition to this journal dedicated in memory of Dr. Belkin. "By Word, on Parchment, in Stone" – An Appreciation of Dr. Samuel Belkin, z”l. Torah is taught by word, on parchment, and in stone. The divine revelation is transmitted in three different ways: by means of the Oral Law; by means of the Written Law; and by means of engraving, such as that on the Tablets. Even as this is true for divine teaching, so is it true for human education as well. The teacher is one who, by profession, emulates God – he realizes the principle of imitatio Dei. Just as God is a teacher, so is the human educator. I wish to follow the rubric of these three ways – by word, on parchment, in stone – to offer a brie…

Dear Laurie: I just learned that your pet bird passed away. I can appreciate how badly you feel because of this. I know how attached you were to it. I am not one of those who dismiss such things as trivial, because it is only a bird – or a dog or a cat or any other living thing. When you form a warm relationship with a living creature, it becomes a part of your life. So I can understand how much you miss the company of even a little bird which relied upon you and which made you so happy....However, all of us have to learn this lesson in life. We are all mortal creatures. By this I mean that all that is created must sooner or later come to an end.This holds true not only for birds and animals and flowers, but for human beings as well. It is a sad thought, but it is a fact, and one which we have to learn to live with. After all, if life was endless, then living might not really beWe Rejoice in the Wows of Your Torah worthwhile, because we would never do the things that were important—always postponing them for next year or next century. Because we know that life must end sometime, we try to cram into the span of life that God gives us all the love and the affection and the good deeds and the creativity that we possibly can. It is only because life eventually ends, that the living we do until then can be meaningful, happy, and valuable. For instance, if you knew that you would have your bird forever and ever, you might never take the time to develop warmth towards it, feed it, and derive any pleasure from its chirping and singing. It is only because we humans know that everything in life is limited, that we make an effort to fill the years we have with light and helpfulness and kindness and goodness. So look upon the death of this little bird not only as a blow, but also as something that was necessary and that allowed you to shower your love and affection upon it for the time you did have it. In a way, it is only because it died that you were able to love it so much …

The Sages teach us in the Midrash (Tanhuma, Pinchas 10; and in somewhat different form in the Talmud, Ber. 58a and Sanh. 38a): כשם שאין פרצופיהן שווין זה לזה כך אין דעתן שוה. Just as people's faces differ from each other, so the deiot of each person are different from those of every other person. Deiot here means not only opinions, but also personalities. Similarly, when the Rambam writes about Hilkhot Deiot, he refers to a study of character and personality. The world created by the Holy One is remarkably rich, not only in its natural diversity but also in its human variety. If this is true of ordinary human beings, then a fortiori, how much more so is it true for scholars whose deiot (in both meanings, that of intellectual outlook and of character attributes) are formed by the holy Torah. Just as shiv'im panim le-torah, there is no homogeneous, single approach to Torah but rather 70 different ways of interpreting it, so shiv'im panim le'lomdei torah, there is an enormous variety of types of scholar’s and we must not expect amongst them one idealized monolithic personality. Of course, individual traits are clearly marked in Halakhah as desirable or undesirable: thus, respect for human dignity (kevod ha-beriot) is desirable, and vengeance and vindicativeness are undesirable. But there is no one character type or personality structure that is inherently superior or more prevalent than any other. In the realm of Torah, one finds a plethora of personalities, a pluralism of types, and this makes the world of Talmidei hakhamim far more interesting and vital than if the Torah personalities were uniform, homogeneous, and monochromatic. The two great Roshei Yeshiva whom we mourn and memorialize were in many ways directly opposed to each other in personality, cast of mind, and the form of their interpersonal relationships. Yet these two characterological antonyms were unified not only in the friendship they felt for each other and the derekh eretz with which they treated ea…

In addressing this topic, I make certain assumptions which it is best to declare at the outset. I speak of “Torah Education” as it is known and practiced in Centrist or Modern Orthodoxy. This means Jewish education in that community which subscribes to Torah U’Madda as a desideratum and not a concession, to tolerance and moderation, to the State of Israel, and to the unity of the Jewish people. But these admirable qualities and values are ancillary to the primary principle of Torah as the very source of our lives, both individual and communal, and the study of Torah as the pre-eminent mitzvah of Judaism. My remarks might be viewed as self-critical, negatively constructive. Although I dwell upon our faults and failures and flaws, and forgo self-gratulation, do not conclude therefrom that we are inherently inadequate and doomed. Quite to the contrary: if I am critical of our educational efforts, perhaps harshly, I ask you to attribute the public airing of my misgivings as a sign of collective self-confidence and strength. Were I less confident of our past achievements and future triumphs, I would not risk exposing our weaknesses. I shall cluster my remarks about two poles or centers of concern: Torah and Mitzvot. Why, after all, should a young person study Torah when it is so easy to be accepted, successful, and recognized without a whisper of Jewish literacy? The Torah component in the theme of “Torah Education at the Crossroads” may be divided into a discussion of motivation, continuity, and axiology (or: the role of Torah in the hierarchy of values). Motivation: one of the most fundamental, difficult, and persistent questions which Jewish educators have to confront is that of the motivation to learn. This is universally the case, but it is especially nettlesome for children or adolescents of our community who are exposed to the whole gamut of contemporary experience in which Torah learning is not a prestige item. The perennial problem is getting more difficult of …

Lamm—Samuel. The Yeshiva University Family expresses profound sorrow on the passing of the beloved husband of the late Pearl Baumol Lamm and father of its esteemed President, Dr. Norman Lamm. Heartfelt condolences also to children, Rabbi Maurice Lamm, holder of the Rabbi Maurice Lamm Chair in Professional Rabbinics at the affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary; Tzibby Sittner of Jerusalem and Miriam Auslander of Monsey; thirteen grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and all members of the bereaved family. May they be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.Ludwig Jesselson, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Yeshiva University/ Hon. Herbert Tenzer, Chairman Emeritus Lamm—Samuel. The Israel Bond Organization mourns the passing of Samuel Lamm, whose love of the Jewish people and of Israel resonates in the lives of his children: Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, President of Yeshiva University and a close friend of State of Israel Bonds; Maurice Lamm, President of the National Institute for Jewish Hospice; Tzibby Sittner of Jerusalem and Miriam Auslander of Monsey, New York. We extend our deepest sympathies to the entire family. May they be comforted with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. David B. Hermelin, International Chairman Sy Sims, National Chairman Ambassader Meir Rosenne, President and CEO Lamm—Samuel. The Board of Directors and the Administration of The Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale mourn the passing of Samuel Lamm on October 19, 1990. To his family—Dr. Norman Lamm, Maurice Lamm, Miriam Auslander, and Tzivia Sittner—and their families, we extend our deepest condolences. Samuel Lamm and his late wife Pearl enjoyed the affection and respect of everyone at the Home. Irving H. Stolz, President Milton A. Gilbert, Chairman of The Board Jacob Reingold, Executive Vice President Lamm—Samuel. Fifth Avenue Synagogue is deeply saddened by the passing of the father of the distinguished President of Yeshiva University, Dr. Norman Lamm. His legacy …

I knew Rabbi Jung in several capacities: as his associate in the rabbinate of The Jewish Center for 18 years; as a congregant here for the past 11 years; as President of Yeshiva University where he served as both professor emeritus of Jewish ethics and as honorary trustee on our Board. But I speak this evening not in any official capacity, but primarily as an American Jew in the latter half of the twentieth century who is concerned with the future of Torah and the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and who had the opportunity to see him labor on their behalf and leave them far better, healthier, and more secure than he found them because of his passage through life. Rabbi Jung always struck me as a remarkably serene man. His serenity was more than the typical unflappability of the Englishman; Rabbi Jung was an Englishman, an American, a German, an Hungarian — a truly international man. It issued from far deeper resources than a mere cultural bias. Its origin was in the sense of wholeness, of temimut, that comes from profound faith and inner conviction. Emunah, Jewish religious experience, comes in two antithetical forms, both equally authentic. One is that of a stormy scene of massive spiritual conflicts, of tormented wrangling with doubt and struggling with loneliness, leaving one filled with pain and anguish and angst. The other form of religious experience involves a serene center of spiritual tranquility — irenic, pacific, and happy — reinforced by the faith and trust in the Almighty. Despite the fact that Rabbi Jung had the capacity to struggle for his principles — and he proved successful when he had to engage in such contention—his essential personality was of the second type, that which is described in the divine command to Abraham, התהלך לפני והיה חברם, “walk before Me and you will be whole.” He was whole, a complete personality, unperturbed by dissonance and oppositions. His gift for reconciling opposites, or at least for abiding their coexistence wit…

גליון זה של הביטאון התורני בית יוסף שאול מוקדש לזכרם של שני אישים דגולים שנתייתמנו מהם בשנה זו – שתי אישיויות שונות זו מזו כמעט מן הקצה אל הקצה, הן במהותן, הן באורח חייהן, הן בתכונותיהן ומידותיהן. ובכל זאת, שני אלה – שהיו גדולים כל אחד בתחומו, "זה מתגאה בעולמו וזה מתגאה בעולמו" – הקסימו זה את זה עד שנוצר ביניהם קשר אמיץ. מתוך ידידות מוזרה זו יצא תיקון ושיפור היסטורי לעולם החינוך התורני, מארה"ב ועד למדינת ישראל – מדרדקי א״ב ועד לאברכים מצוינים בכולל העליון של ישיבתנו הקדושה ומוסדות התורה הכא והתם. "זה ספר תולדות אדם ביום ברוא אלקים אדם בדמות אלקים עשה אותו" – ואחד מגדולי בעלי התוספות, רבנו אפרים, פירש: "זה ס״פ״ר – סופרים, פרנסים, ראשים – ר"ת ספר; שהראה לו הקב״ה דור דור ודורשיו, דור דור ופרנסיו, דור דור וראשיו" (ראה פירושי התורה לבעלי התוספות, עמי קע"ב). שני ראשים היו אלה: האחד – הסופר הראשי, והשני – הפרנס הראשי, וכל אחד מהם שימש בתפקידו ללא התמנות רשמית, אך מתוך הסכמה אוניברסלית של כל הציבור המגוון של ישיבתנו.מו"ר הגאון האדיר רבי יוסף דוב הלוי סולובייצ'יק זצ״ל, יליד ליטא ומצאצאי בית בריסק המפורסם, היה "הסופר" הדגול של דורנו, שהאציל מרוחו ומתורתו על אלפי תלמידיו ושומעי שיעוריו. הודות להשראתו גידל שני דורות של רבנים, ר"מים ובעלי בתים תלמידי חכמים. תפס ללא עוררין את מקומו בראש הפסגה של התורה והחכמה בתולדות ישיבתנו מאז ייסודה, ומצודתו פרוסה על פני כל העולם היהודי, עד שכמעט לא נמצא אדם מן היישוב שהיה יכול לפקפק בגאונותו ובכושר הסברתו. הוא ביסס את יסודות הקהילה של שומרי מצוות ולומדי תורה ביבשת זו, ואלפים ורבבות סרו למשמעתו – והמונים צפפו לשמוע לקח מפיו. אף אלה שהיו רחוקים מעולם התורה והמסורה – קירבום ברוב חכמתו וחן אישיותו, והם כיבדוהו כאוצר בלום של היהדות האותנטית. היה בשבילנו הסופר – ראש לכל הסופרים.ר' יוסף שאול גרוס ז״ל, יליד למברג הגליצאית, התנכר כבר בילדותו למסורת היהדות. היה בנקאי מצליח עוד טרם פרצה מלחמת העולם השנייה – כל כולו נתון היה למסחר ולעסקים, בעל כשרון אדיר ונדיר בכל ענפי המשק ברחבי העולם, אשר כל רז פיננסי לא אנוס לו. במקרה טראגי שלא היה יכול לחזות מראש – הוא ואשתו המנוחה השאירו בן קטן בפולין בעת ששהו בארה"ב, ודוקא אז פרצה המלחמה, והתינוק נחטף על ידי הרוצח…

Rabbi Bulman and I were classmates at Yeshiva University, and studied together under the Rav, zt”l. We were not part of the same chavruta, but we socialized together – especially on Friday nights, after the Shabbat meal, on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section. Young Orthodox Jews of all schools – Torah Vodaath, Yeshiva University, Chaim Berlin, Chofetz Chaim – used to walk and talk, and the talk was often of the highest caliber (to the surprise, no doubt, of those who looked upon this weekly promenade with a jaundiced eye). What intrigued me about Nachman, and what evoked affection and respect, was both the content and form of his conversation. The content was always high and serious. He was a yerei Shamayim but never narrow or shallow. He lived and breathed ahavat Yisrael, and he was distressed about oh, so many things in the Jewish community that he loved! He was critical of the less frum and the too frum, let alone the non-frum. He approached almost all problems from the point of view of musar and Chassidut, and I was amazed at the range of his knowledge. Equally impressive was his delivery – in a somewhat high-pitched voice; he was truly eloquent in both Yiddish and English, but especially the former. How I envied him – and how much I learned from him! Nachman and I agreed on many things, and disagreed about many others. But whether we were of the same opinion or not, there was a mutual feeling of respect and, at least from me to him, admiration. I never found him to be provincial, and he was a modeh al haemet. Our friendship was not diminished by distance or long lack of contact; the rare occasions we met after he made aliyah reawakened in us the old, warm feelings of our youth. Nachman is gone now, to my great distress, but I know that in the empyrean abode where his pure neshamah now rests, he is passionately lecturing the angels on a host of great issues. And they, messengers of the Almighty who are supposed to know only Hebrew, will no doubt…

We meet on this very sad day to express our grief at the loss of the seven astronauts – men and women, each and every one an accomplished human being worthy of the greatest admiration. And we meet with special poignancy as Jews and friends of the State of Israel because this is the day that Israelis, beset by all kinds of problems – economic, security, political – have anticipated as a day of jubilation. All of us hoped to have an opportunity to see the sun break through the clouds – and unfortunately it turned into something quite the reverse. One thinks of the words of the prophet Amos who said, “ve’hafachti chageichem le’eivel ve’chol shirayich le’kinah ve’samtihah ke’eivel yachid” – “I will turn your festivals into days of mourning and your songs into dirges, and I will make it as a day that one mourns for an only son.” Indeed, this is a day of eivel yachid – for an only son – Colonel Ilan Ramon, zikhrono livrachah, may his memory be for a blessing. There is a special painful and poignant coincidence that this day is the first day of the month of Adar, about which our tradition tells us, “Mi shenichnas Adar marbin be’simchah.” A day that ushers in a month – and this year two months – of joy and happiness. Yet, as Amos had said, the joy and the happiness have turned into ashes, into eivel, into mourning. I cannot begin these words of tribute without mentioning the powerful and moving announcement by President Bush, a truly religious person, who spoke genuinely spiritual words. He quoted the prophet Isaiah: “Raise your eyes to the heavens and see who created all this, who calls by name all the multitude of stars in the heavens – none is missing.” President Bush added that the same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. They include Michael Anderson, David Brown, William McCool, Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon – aleihem hashalom, may they rest in peace. So we gather to mourn these seven galla…

אפתח בוידוי: אין אני מרגיש בנוח, ואין אני כדאי להיות מספיד למורי ורבי הרב. איש אחד בלבד יכול היה למלא כראוי תפקיד זה, והוא הרב עצמו. כל אחר זולתו הינו בגדר מספיד שלא כהלכה. אף על פי כן מחויבים אנו להספיד כמיטב יכולתנו. ולכן מבקש אני מכם וממנו סליחה. הרב נפטר באותו יום בו הלך לעולמו – לפני שבע עשרה שנה – ד״ר שמואל בלקין, נשיאה המנוח של הישיבה-אוניברסיטה. הרב הספיד אותו מעל בימה זו, שאני עומד עליה, ערב הימים האחרונים של חג הפסח. הרב זצ״ל התבטא בהספדו על הרב בלקין בביטוי: ״ארמי אבד אבי״ (דברים כו ה), ״הליטוואק הנודד״ אשר בהיותו עול ימים נאלץ לעזוב את ביתו, לקחת בידו את מקל הנדודים ולהגיע בכוחות עצמו ממש אל חופי הארץ הזו. שלא כהרב בלקין, הרב לא היה ״ארמי אובד״, לא נתייתם בגיל צעיר. נהפוך הוא, הרב זכה לגדול בבית אציל ויציב, להורים מעודדים ומחבבים מאד. עם היוולדו היה חולית-המשך לשושלת מפוארת־בית-הרב׳ ר' משה, ר־ חיים מבריסק, בית הלוי, הנצי־ב ורחיים מוולוז׳ין.גאוניותו של הרב הוכרה על ידי הכל, עוד בהיותו תינוק בעריסה. בהיותו בן שש שנים שכר לו אביו מלמד שבא לבית ללמדו. המלמד היה מחסידי חב־ד, הוא לימד את הילד גם ־תניא־. המלמד לא טרח לבקש את רשות ההורים לכך. הילד ידע את ה־תניא־ על בוריו, אביו נסער ופיטר את המלמד... מאז היה הילד תלמידו של אביו שהיה תובע הרבה, ביקורתי, יחד עם זאת מקבל וגאה.בהיות הילד בן עשר, הגיש לאביו כתב-יד ובו חידושי תורה. האב היה מלא התפעלות ושלח את החומר שכתב הבן, לר־ חיים בריסקר. רחיים אף הוא התרשם מהחומר ושלח אותו לדיין שלו ר־ שמחה זליג. רחיים ניבא כי זה הילד לגדולות נוצר. התפתחותו של הרב נמשכה ללא הפרעות, התקוות הגדולות שתלו בו התממשו בפועל.סח לי רבה הראשי לשעבר של מדינת ישראל הרב אברהם שפירא שליט־א, סיפור שהוא היה עד לו: הרב בא לביקור ־ הראשון והיחיד - בארץהרב בא לביקור -הראשון והיחיד -בארץ ישראל. הר־ אי״ה קוק סבר כי גאונותו התורנית המופלאה של הסבא ר׳ חיים מבריסק, מתגלה בנכד, הג־ רי״ד. מטעם זה יעץ לבנו, הרב צבי יהודה, שלא להעדר משיעורים בהלכה שיגיד הגרי״ד.העמדת ניגודים טיפולוגיים: א י ש ־ ה ה ל כ ה ואיש-האלוקים; ברית-גורל וב-רית-יעוד; מלכות וענווה; הניגודים הם הגורמים העיקריים לבדידות וניכור.19הראי״ה קוק מצא שיש אחדות יסודית בה בכללות כל התופעות. הגרי״ד…