Dear Mr. Michael: Thank you for sending me a photocopy of the article in the Herald Tribune about anti-semitism in South Africa. May I merely mention that I immediately felt that this was somewhat exaggerated, in the sense that while there is obviously a heavy under-layer of anti-semitism in that country, it does not seem that it will imminently erupt. Interestingly, the same day I received your photocopy, I read the following paragraph in a letter to me from a friend in Port Elizabeth in South Africa: "Sorry to read your remarks that you are disturbed to see in the Daily Press about anti-semitic outbursts in Parliament. The position in South Africa today is neither better nor worse than when you were here. We have got to face facts that there is not much love lost between various races and nationalities throughout the world. The Jew has always been the scapegoat from time immemorial. Please do not take any notice of these reports about anti-semitism in South Africa. The English people, consisting of English, Scots, Irish and Welsh, after many generations still do not love one another. They have the same racial difficulties. Do not be worried. We have a racial problem of White versus Black. What about the Jews in Latin America, Argentine, etc.?"I do hope that Mrs. Michael is improving in her health. As you know, I am always anxious to hear good news about her.With all best wishes and kind regards from Mrs. Lamm.Sincerely yours,RABBI NORMAN LAMM

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I have been attending services at the Jewish Center on an irregular basis for many years, however your sermon on the first day of Passover is the first to stimulate me to comment. I would like to comment at the start that I definitely agree with your theme. There is no questions in my mind that prayer to most people today is little more than recitation of what is given to them in the prayer book, and sincere expression of emotion and devotion seem to be lacking. But I think that the powers that supervise the service but accept a large amount of responsibility for this situation. I will cite one example to illustrate my point on this has been bothering me for quite a long time.

Dear Norman: Dr. Henry D. Reichlin of 333 West End Avenue, New York City, was kind enough to present me with a xerox copy of an autographed letter by Sigmund Freud dated January 27, 1925 in which Freud confesses his limited knowledge of Judaism. Apparently this confession did not prevent him from writing "Moses and Monotheism." Dr. Reichlin has asked me to kindly send you a copy of Freud’s letter. Best wishes and kindest regards.Sincerely,Jacob I. DienstagJID:mrSehr geehrter Herr!Der litcrarische Bcitrag von Rabbiner Dr. Lauer bezog sich auf das Wesen des Traumos und seine Beurteilung.in der rabbinischen Literatur. Ich kann Ihncn einen Abdruck. davon nicht schicken, denn ich besitze nur den ganzen Band. Bin Besuch bei Frau Dr.Mira Oberholzer, Utoquai 39, vird Ihnon die Binsicht in diesen Aufsatz ermoglichcn.Sie vmnschen Auskunfte Uber meine Be-ziehungon zum Judentum. Ich kann sagen,dass ich dor judischen Bel irion, so feme stehe vie alien anderen Beligionen, das heisst, sie sind mir als Gegonstand wissenschaft-lichen Intorcsscs hochbedeutsam, gefUhls-ruissig bin ich an I ihnen nicht boteiligt. Dagegon habo ;cn irnmor ein starkes Ge fUhl von Zusa!.׳unongehorigkcit mit meinem Volke gehabt und es auch bei meihen Kindern genahrt. Wir sind alle in der jlldischen Konfession verbiiebon.Meine Jugend fiel in eine Zeit, da unsere freisinnigen Religionslehrer keinen Wert auf die Erworbung von Kenntnissncn in der hebraischen Sprache und Literatur bci ihrcn.SchUlern legten. ״cine Bildung int dalier auf diesera Gebiete recht zuruck gcblieberi, was ich spater oftmals bedaucrt

Dear Colleague: You are no doubt acquainted with and troubled by the confrontations of Jews and Blacks throughout the city and the country. We in Manhattan, especially those surrounding the Harlem area, are most directly concerned. It is the feeling of some of us that it is not too late to avoid more frequent and more bitter encounters. The only way to do this is for leaders of both communities to meet with each other and speak frankly and honestly. To this end, there has been arranged a "Conference on Urban Tensions" for religious leaders of the White and the Black communities in Manhattan to meet together and discuss our mutual aspirations and our grievances. This will be the second of such gatherings; the first took place on January 6th. The meeting is scheduled for: DATE: Thursday, January 30th, 1969 TIME: 9:30 A.M. PLACE: Ministerial Interfaith Association of Harlem 110 East 125th Street New York, New York The Synagogue Council of America has asked me to contact you as one of the Jewish participants. I do hope you will be able to join us in what may well prove to be a most significant meeting. Please fill out the enclosed reply card to let us know if we may expect you. Sincerely, Rabbi Norman Lamm

My dear [Rav] Lamm, Having spend פסח in Lakewood, I write to you from Philadelphia, before returning to Wash. after בין שבת ור״ח. You were kind enough, in the midst of the pressure of your pre-פסח increased activities, to send me a greatly appreciated most informative reply י״כ! Having mentioned, and written about, my friend, Professor Nathan H. Scott Jr. and having seen your interest in this outstanding scholar, the enclosure which I copied from a recent letter from N.S. will, I believe, because of more than passing interest to you.

Hanukkah – Judaism for Everyone (שמעתי מהרב שמעון סג"ל בשם רב אלמוני – תשס״א) בנוסח "על הנסים" מזכירים "על הנסים ועל פורקן / גבורות / תשועות / מלחמות" – ולמה ל׳ כל אלה, הלא כולם נכללים ב"נסים"? אלא שבא ללמדנו שחנוכה הוא לכל יהודי: לדתי, שמבין שהכל הוא ע"י נסים; לגוש אמונים – פורקן; לח״לים – מלחמות; לדיפלומטים – תשועות, וכוי • Fundmntl Q = nature St Isr. Peres on Bibi victry: "Js won, Isrlis lost"... (alrdy notd by soc scients.) ... • This = my bias, but I'll try be objectv | • ST: Uri Avneri – "Heb NatT" – koshr baloney Kenneth Clark concluded hs massv study, Civiliz’n, by stating, "It = lack of conf1dnc > thn anythng else tht kills a civiiz’n." If wht we hv cherishd as our interp’n of our "civilz’n," is t thrive / flourish, thn we must rid selves of sneer stance & return to a firm and self-respecting shema attitude. The hale test f questionbly כשר spine of animl, t determn if חוט השדרה is מסור is t hold spine at base & see if it wavers – if leans t 1 side / other = non-kosher; if erect = kasher. From The Daily Telegraph / London / April 10, 2001: Nobody will ever begin to understand the Jews until they have visited a yeshiva – a school for the study of the Talmud – and seen hundreds of young men engaged in a passionate discussion of its text. It was nine in the evening when I arrived at the Yeshiva University in New York. A buzz of furious sound was coming from one of its libraries. Here, in a largish room, were 400 young men, sitting in pairs across desks rather like chess players and surrounded by piles of hefty tomes, arguing heatedly. It could scarcely have been more different from the obligatory silence of the Bodleian. They were all studying the Talmud, line by line, and this was no exercise in dry scholarship. As I soon realised, I was in the presence of the fissile core of Judaism. "We take a short section," explained one young man, "discuss it between us, back and forth, give and take. We might be debating an apparently abstruse point, such as…

Dear Rabbi Lamm, The silver lining of clouds like those blown in by Feldman is that it provides an excuse for people to talk to each other who otherwise might not have one! I appreciated the conversation Friday morning, and of course even more appreciate the response to Feldman. I've decided at the moment not to blog further about it. By Wednesday last week, people were clamoring "enough already!" Unless there is a spike of interest based on the revelations of Thursday-Friday and the OU's call for Feldman's dismissal from the Times, it might be better to just move in.On the other hand, if you notice any criticism of that one line, please let me know, and I will somehow find some time while at Mammoth to write what I had planned, which would work something like this: "I cannot speak for Rabbi Lamm, but based on personal conversation in the past, what I am pretty confident he meant is..." That way, you can still use the original formulation for those who need it, while I can get a different nuance out there for the frum consumer. So if you see the need for it, just yell.Kol tuv,[redacted]