We join Klal Yisroel in mourning the death, at age 86, of Rabbi Maurice Lamm, noted alumnus of Yeshiva University, musmach of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and longtime rabbi of such synagogues as Beth Jacob Congregation of Beverly Hills and the Palm Springs Desert Synagogue.
The author of several highly informative and significant books, he was perhaps best known for two that have become staples in countless Jewish homes.
The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning provides an exhaustive but entirely readable treatment of the requirements of Jewish law and custom regarding death and bereavement. It is a topic most people try to avoid until they are suddenly confronted with urgent questions of what to do next.
Consolation is a study of how our sages targeted certain underlying emotions with particular bereavement prescriptions. Parenthetically, he reviews how those Talmudic insights have been validated by later psychiatrists and psychologists.
An inspiring writer, illuminating teacher, and revered pulpit rabbi. So many accomplishments in a life well lived.
May his memory be a blessing.