Rabbi at The Jewish Center and later president of Yeshiva University
Rabbi Norman Lamm and the Manhattan Eruv Correspondence of 1964
Rabbi Norman Lamm received Rav Moshe Feinstein's 1964 telegram and letter clarifying that Rav Moshe could not be represented as permitting the Manhattan eruv.
Rav Moshe objected to the use of his name
In March 1964, Rav Moshe sent Rabbi Norman Lamm a telegram followed by a fuller letter. The immediate issue was the impression that Rav Moshe could be counted among the Rabbonim permitting the Manhattan eruv.
Rav Moshe asked that his name not be used in support of the project. His own halachic position had not changed, and he would not participate in establishing or permitting the eruv.
Respect for disagreement was not permission
Rav Moshe wrote with restraint about qualified Rabbonim who disagreed with him. He did not call for personal attacks or deny that they had a halachic basis for their view.
That respect was later mistaken for approval. His letter to Rabbi Lamm makes the distinction plain: he could honor the Rabbonim involved while continuing to rule that the eruv should not be made and refusing to have his name attached to it.
Why the clarification was necessary
A public eruv is often accepted through names rather than through study of the underlying teshuvos. If a leading posek is presented as permitting it, thousands of people may carry on that impression.
The correspondence with Rabbi Lamm is therefore an important part of the Manhattan history. It preserves Rav Moshe's own position at the moment his name was being drawn into the public campaign.