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October 8, 1987

What Have We Forgotten? (1987)

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A Personal Memoir: Encouraging Intellectual Independence (1987)

In conversation with one of my associates at Yeshiva University, I recalled two incidents that made a profound impression upon me. It is worth putting them on paper for my own use at some later time. In the early 1960s, when I was participating in the leadership of the drive for an eruv in Manhattan, I first approached the Rav to solicit his opinion. We were sitting in the luncheonette across from the Main Building, and I told him of my plans and asked if he would approve. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t know Hilkhot Eruvin. But why wait for me? Study the matter well, and after you feel you have enough information on the subject, make up your own mind and act accordingly.” It so happens that later he did study the matter, and probably came to a negative conclusion on the question of the eruv in Manhattan, but that is irrelevant. What is important is that he encouraged my intellectual independence. Some months later, after we proclaimed the eruv and the Agudas HaRabbonim objected, under the leadership of the late and much-lamented Rabbi Aharon Kotler, Rabbi Immanuel Jacobovits and I went to see him in his home in Lakewood. He was very gracious, and his response to our queries was, “But I don’t know Hilkhot Eruvin...” I compare the two stories. Both men were possessed of a high degree of intellectual integrity. They were not afraid to say that they did not know. But there was one difference between them: the Rav encouraged me to intellectual independence as well as integrity – to make up my own mind and act accordingly. No such encouragement came from Rabbi Kotler, whose sense of authority would not permit such openness.
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Assorted

Final Questions for 75.2 (1975)

According to RMM, what are the differences between imminence and transcendence? Answer: imminence is differentiated, and transcendence is uniform. Hence, imminence is finite (since it depends upon the absorptive capacity of all existing objects), and transcendence is uniform. From this it follows too, that the En Sof creates by means of transcendence, for only the unlimited can create, and relates through imminence -- whereas as the converse is not true, i.e., He does not create through iminence, nor does He relate through transcendence.2 Eschatology: according to RMM, what is the difference between Gan Eden and 01am Habah? Answer: GA is attained through Torah,and it consists of the study of Torah (in its mystical aspect, not the halakhic) and this is a function of imminence. OH which includes Techiat Hametim is achieved through observance of the mitzvot rather than study of Torah, and it is then that man will have revealed for him the fullness of transcendence. Finals 75 – clw.BCQuestion on A–8 – Why is the author so hesitant and apologetic about offering his interpretation? Answer: Because of the radical nature of the Besht’s statement that God is present even in sin; there is a risk of Sabbatian misinterpretation. Question on A–8 continued – How does the author, R. Moshe Hayyim Ephraim, interpret the Hebrew word Anokhi to demonstrate the principle of immanentism? Answer: The silent kaf at the end indicates the hidden, concealed presence of God. Question A–7 – How does R. Nahman of Bratzlav interpret the Jerusalem Talmud’s passage that when one is asked, “Where is your God?” he should answer, “In Rome”? Answer: To indicate that even in the center of materiality, where the questioner thinks God is absent, there too God is present. Material for Final 75.2A – Short answers from Minkin (last half of book):Question on A–6 – According to RMM (author of excerpt), immanence by itself is incapable of creation ex nihilo, because immanence, according to Habad, is defined as…
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Speech

Autobiographical Reflections - Full Interview

Rabbi Lamm is interviewed by Toldot Yisrael.
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