BD”E – Wife of Dr. Lamm Passes Away

by Moshe Morris for 5TJT.com

The Five Towns Jewish Times and VINNEWS are sad to report the passing of Mrs. Mindella “Mindy” Lamm a”h, the wife of Yeshiva University President Emeritus, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm.

Mrs. Lamm was the mother of Dr. Chaye Warburg, Dr. Joshua Lamm, Shalom Lamm and Sara Dratch a”h.

The private burial will take place tomorrow, Friday, April 17, at 3:30 p.m.  Shiva details will be announced.

Mindella Lamm was born in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. Her father passed away when she was a young child.  She attended a Beis Yaakov school and pursued higher education at Hunter College.  She majored in Education.  After graduating college, she worked in the New York public school system.

After she met her husband, she devoted all of her energies to Yeshiva University.  In an interview with YU’s Commentator she said, “Being involved with YU on so many levels was the experience of a lifetime.  Before Dr. Lamm became president of YU, I was very involved in all of the chesed work of the Yeshiva University’s Women’s Organization. They do marvelous work and don’t get enough credit for the enormous chesed they do for students. Once Dr. Lamm became president, I assisted in every way I could. Those were both very tough times, but also times of great building and hope.”

After their children grew older,  Mrs. Lamm accompanied her husband to meet with dignitaries across the world, travelling to Egypt, London, Paris, Australia, and Beijing during her husband’s presidency. She added, “We entertained in our home or at YU on behalf of Yeshiva and the entire Jewish world and were privileged to get to meet or know many extraordinary people—whether it was Abba Eban or Natan Sharansky, Yehuda Avner, Menachem Begin, Yitzchak Rabin, and many others. It was a tremendous privilege. But with all of the extraordinary people we met, including undergraduate faculty, Roshei Yeshiva and graduate school faculties and administrators, [the] students were always the highlight.” She explained, “I loved meeting Stern college students when I audited classes, which I did often.” Additionally, Mrs. Lamm explained that she greatly enjoyed when students used to visit their small summer home in Sackett Lake, New York.

Rabbi Dr, Lamm was the Chancellor of Yeshiva University until he announced his retirement on July 1, 2013.  He holds a Ph.D. in Jewish philosophy and was the third President of Yeshiva University.