NEW YORK
JTA
By Uriel Heilman
July 1, 2013
Rabbi Norman Lamm, who serves as Yeshiva University’s president, chancellor and head of its rabbinical school, announced his departure on Monday in a letter acknowledging his failure to respond adequately to sexual abuse allegations against two rabbis at Y.U.’s high school for boys in the 1980s. [UPDATE: The school has issued a statement saying that “Rabbi Lamm’s decision to retire is based on an agreement that was reached three years ago” and “his contract expired June 30.”
The full text of his letter, which was sent to students, faculty, alumni and donors, according to a Y.U. spokesman, follows. He addresses the sexual allegations in paragraphs 6-9.
Dear Friends,
When we celebrated the ninetieth birthday of my dear father, zikhrono liverakhah, I cited the Mishnah in Avot 5:21, ben tish’im la-shu-ach. Despite the standard explanation that at ninety years old a person is stooped and decrepit, and there is much truth to that, I offered a more sensitive and profound interpretation. Without going into all of the details, I observed that hishtachavayah, the prostration of the attendee at the Jerusalem Temple, was the final ritual performed at the culmination of the divine service. Through prostration pilgrims stopped to reflect on their heavenly encounter and offered their gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to serve God through the divine service. At ninety, I suggested, a person stops to reflect on a life well lived, a family raised, professional and personal achievements, spiritual growth, accomplishments, mistakes, successes and failures—and pauses for hishtachavayah, a moment of reflection, gratitude, and appreciation.
While I have yet to reach my father’s age, at this moment of transition in accordance with an agreement reached 3 years ago—as I step down from my positions as Chancellor of Yeshiva University and Rosh Hayeshivah, ending over sixty years of official affiliation with my beloved Yeshiva University as student, faculty member, Rosh Hayeshivah, President, and Chancellor—I use this moment for mishtachavim u-modim—pause, reflection, and expression of gratitude. Before beginning, I want to acknowledge that conditions have caused me to rely on help from my family in writing this letter.
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