Reflections on the Career of Rav Dr. Norman Lamm

Reflections on the Career of Rav Dr. Norman Lamm

By Guest Blogger
Rav Dov Fischer

Rav Dr. Norman Lamm shlit"a has been a giant of our generation.  On the one hand, he assumed the Yeshiva University presidency aware that he would be compared under a microscope to his immediate predecessors, Rav Dr. Samuel Belkin, and to Rav Bernard Revel before him.  He would be scrutinized for worthiness to be at the spiritual head of an institution led by Gedolei HaTorah including HaRav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik zt"l and Rav Dovid Lifshitz zt"l, among so many others. His every public word would be scrutinized, with many to his right looking to delegitimize any syllable suggestive of modernity or secular sophistication and with those to his left ready to take umbrage at any syllable perceived to slight their theological legitimacy.  Amidst it all, he inherited the helm of an institution that was deeply, fearsomely mired in a financial nightmare that actually imperiled its continued existence.  He continually has risen to every such challenge. Through it all, he has led brilliantly, successfully, and emerged as a giant on all spheres of leadership.
 
I often walked on Shabbat mornings from the Columbia dorms, where I was in college, down to West 86th and Amsterdam, just to hear Rav Lamm's weekly Shabbat drashah.  In March 1981, when I was musmakh at RIETS, Rav Dr. Lamm's speech at that Chag Ha-Semikhah proved a clarion call for the holiness of fighting for the Orthodox Center.  To this day, I regard the speech he delivered that day to be among the three or four that most impacted me, altered the course of my life, and directed me on my life's journey. 
 
Rav Dr. Lamm has manifested courage and personal heroism at virtually every juncture of his career.  I encountered it during those college years, experienced it personally when I applied to learn at RIETS, and continue to regard with awe and amazement the elegant courage he manifests, side-by-side with the profound Torah and secular wisdom he transmits.


Best Regards,
RRW