As a leading proponent of Jewish hospital chaplaincy, Rabbi Lamm, along with his wife, founded and served as president of the National Institute for Jewish Hospice in 1985. Through its 55,000 members, the organization helps those suffering with serious and terminal illness. NIJH has accredited and reaccredited 225 Jewish hospice programs in the United States.
“My father was a paragon of so much,” Dodi Lamm said at the funeral. “He was the patriarch, greeting every grandchild and great-grandchild with such enthusiasm and joy…. He was a rabbi – eloquent, powerful and compassionate. He was a teacher, both formally in school and informally in life. He loved these roles. He loved being a brother and, boy, did he love his siblings.”
Rabbi Lamm is survived by his wife, Shirley; his son, Rabbi David Lamm; his daughter, Dodi Lamm; his brother, Rabbi Norman Lamm, and sisters Tzivia Sittner and Miriam Auslander; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his daughter Judith Young.