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Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Former Chancellor of Yeshiva University, Dead at 92

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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh & Fern Sidman

On Sunday May 31, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, the longtime leader of Yeshiva University, passed away at the age of 92.   The Modern Orthodox communal leader, scholar, and prolific author died in his daughter’s home in Englewood, N.J., as confirmed by his son Joshua.

Rabbi Lamm was the third president of Yeshiva University, based in Washington Heights.  He served for 37 years as either the president or chancellor. He was associated with the private Jewish school for close to 70 years.  In July 2013, he had retired as Chancellor.

Rabbi Lamm was elected president in 1976, and became well-known for championing the notion of Torah U’madda — leading a life that combines rigorous adherence to Jewish law while also pursuing worldly knowledge and engagement in the outside world.  “He gave modern Orthodox Jews a special sense of their own legitimacy vis-à-vis the other Jews in the Orthodox world,” said Jeffrey Gurock, professor of Jewish history at Yeshiva.  It was his vision that made it possible for Modern Orthodox graduates to attain roles of nationwide importance, such as Senator Joseph I. Lieberman who ran for Vice President of the U.S., and Jack Lew  who served as Secretary of the US Treasury.

As reported by the NY Times, Rabbi Lamm is credited for saving the school, which has four New York City campuses, from the brink of bankruptcy.  When he was a new president in the mid-1970s, there was a national recession which threatened to topple the private institution’s finances.  It was Rabbi Lamm who was able to attract non-Orthodox donors to graciously support the institution, in hopes that the graduates would excel in the secular world.  The Yeshiva’s endowment was $25 million in the 1970s, and grew to $875 million by 2001when he moved from being president to Chancellor.

Born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Rabbi  Lamm was a devoted student and confidante of HaGaon HaRav Yosef Dov (Joseph Ber) Soloveitchik, ZT’L who conferred rabbinic ordination on him at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1951. He also attended Mesivta Torah Vodaath and received a doctorate in Jewish philosophy.

As was reported by Arutz Sheva, he was a prolific speaker and also penned 10 books, and edited or co-edited more than 20 volumes. His book entitled “The Religious Thought of Hasidism” won the National Jewish Book Award in Jewish Thought.  He also launched the Torah U-Madda Journal.    “The greatest asset of his leadership was leadership through ideas — through speaking and through writing. He wasn’t afraid to take a stand,” said Lamm’s son-in-law, Rabbi Mark Dratch, who is the executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America.

“He was a real model of a sophisticated Orthodoxy at a time when Orthodoxy was sorely lacking sophistication,” said Rabbi J.J. Schachter, a professor of Jewish history and Jewish thought at Yeshiva University. “He set the bar for what an elegant sermon should be. He was a master darshan [preacher], and of course he carried that over as president of Y.U. in all the speeches he gave.”

Rabbi Lamm’s maternal grandfather was HaGaon HaRav Yehoshua Baumol ZT’L (1880–1948) who authored the Responsa Emek Halakha. In that work, HaRav Baumol cited several insights from his young grandson, and even included responsa addressed to him.

Rabbi Lamm’s wife, Mindella, died on April 16 of COVID-19, at the age 88.  They are survived by two sons, Shalom and Joshua Lamm, and a daughter, Chaye Warburg. His daughter Sara Lamm Dratch passed away in 2013.  Lamm is also survived by 17 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

“The purpose of Torah is neither some kind of arbitrary spiritual exercise, nor the beating of man into submission in order to aggrandize the divine ego. Rather, Torah is the divine instrument for man’s spiritual welfare and fulfillment,” Rabbi Lamm had said in a 1971 sermon. “The Torah is God’s formula for man’s moral development. The prescriptions may be difficult, they may entail discipline and renunciation, but the purpose of Torah and commandments is the good of mankind.”

Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America stated, “The Jewish world lost a pillar and a leader. As President of Yeshiva University and Rosh HaYeshiva of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm helped elevate spirituality in America and save American Judaism. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm was part of the devoted group of post-war educators who worked tirelessly to ensure that Orthodox Judaism thrived in a world that in many ways was hostile to religion in general and Judaism in particular. The Jewish world has lost a dedicated advocate. As a community, we owe Rabbi Dr. Lamm a debt of gratitude that we will always appreciate and be thankful for.”

Rabbi Moish Schmerler, director of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, a graduate of Yeshiva University and of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary stated, “My years learning in Yeshiva were enhanced by the presence of Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, ZT’L. I was privileged as a yeshiva student to benefit from the great yeshiva and university that Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm saved from bankruptcy nearly a half a century ago. This relationship is personal to me. Rabbi Dr. Lamm saved the yeshiva where my wife’s father, HaRav Shmuel Borenstein, ZT’L, served as a Rosh Mesivta at MTA-YUHB, and my wife’s grandfather, HaRav Noach Borenstein, ZT’L, served as a Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Interacting with Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm helped me develop personally, and has had a profound impact on me for the better.”

May Rabbi Lamm, ZT’L serve as a heavenly advocate, a Meilitz Yosher, for his family, the Jewish community and the entire world. May his memory be a blessing.

 

 

 

 

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