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Welcome to the
Lamm Legacy Blog
The Lamm Legacy Blog features regular essays from leading scholars digging deeper into the archives and high-quality videos that bring Rabbi Lamm’s legacy to life.
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The Caveman, Revisited - by Rabbi Dr. Zev Eleff
Many readers will know of the “caveman controversy”—the uproar that followed Rabbi Norman Lamm’s 1997 Yeshiva University Centennial address invoking Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s cave to describe competing visions of Orthodox Judaism. The episode highlighted one of Rabbi Lamm’s lifelong preoccupations, namely, how Torah should live in tension with the modern world. The recently launched online Lamm Library , which preserves how Rabbi Lamm drew on the tale, reveals that his think
Nov 187 min read


The American Who Might Have Been Chief Rabbi - by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky
The launch of a new website dedicated to the legacy of Rabbi Dr Norman Lamm (1927–2020) invites us to recall the deep and sometimes unexpected bonds between this American rabbinic giant and the Jewish community of Britain. For decades, Rabbi Lamm – longtime president and chancellor of Yeshiva University, pulpit rabbi and prolific thinker – was a familiar and respected figure across the Atlantic, his name surfacing in communal conversations at pivotal moments, his friendships
Nov 184 min read


Preserving the Legacy of Rabbi Norman Lamm - by Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky
Conversation on the Launch of the Rabbi Norman Lamm Archives Q: What inspired the creation of the Rabbi Norman Lamm Archives, and why now? A: Rabbi Lamm kept almost everything. When we began, we realized the sermons were just the tip of the iceberg – his personal collection held over 200,000 pages of material. We decided to start with 5,500 sermons, essays, and letters, which was more than enough to launch, while knowing there’s still so much more waiting to be explored. Th
Nov 187 min read
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