It Was Arrogant of YU to Misrepresent Lamm’s Mental Competence

NEW YORK
Frum Follies

Posted on 09/30/2013 by Yerachmiel Lopin

Back in July, (along with Shmarya Rosenberg) I reported that Rabbi Norman Lamm suffered from serious dementia. This has now been confirmed according to the NY Post.

After administering a battery of tests conducted over a period of nearly five hours, Dr. Caccopolo determined [in her written report] that ‘the pattern of Dr. Lamm’s cognitive impairment impedes his ability to independently comprehend and adequately respond to questions posed to him, as well to reliably retrieve and report past information.

I hate belaboring this point, but we are dealing with severe mental incompetence. An ordinary janitor is fit for court testimony but is lucky to earn more than $25,000 a year. Yet YU retained Rabbi Lamm as Chancellor and Rosh Yeshiva and paid him over $500,000 a year. These sort of salaries are shocking to most people but we are told that this is the market rate for exceptional talent. So how the hell could YU retain Rabbi Lamm in that position when he was no longer able to function in a court room at the level of an ordinary janitor?

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