In memory of Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm: Some personal reflections.

Abstract

Indeed, this shechter has always had the utmost respect and affection for this lamm. Like his many admirers, I have appreciated how his “royal reach” has embraced those who have both “faith and doubt,” and how the profundity of his teachings has illuminated many of the “seventy faces” of Judaism, especially “Torah Umadda.” His thoughtful writings have contributed to our understanding of both Rabbi Hayyim of Volozhin’s “Torah lishmah” as well as “the religious thought of Hasidism.” His works have constructed a “hedge of roses” protecting and enhancing the “treasury of tradition,” the “halakhot ve-halikhot” of Jewish life, lore, and practice. Collectively, they comprise a “library of Jewish law and ethics,” constituting a “royal table” bedecked with the bounty of traditional Judaism and serving as guides to contemporary Jewish life. In a lifetime of service to Klal Yisrael, this “man of faith and vision” has valiantly toiled to insure that the members of the Jewish community appreciate the “festivals of their faith,” and model the values of a “good society,” always governed by the value of “shema” or respectful listening. His many written works as well as his first orally delivered “derashot le-dorot,” have created “festivals of Jewish faith” and serve as enduring testaments to the relevance and vitality of traditional Judaism.