Mrs. Mindella 'Mindy' Lamm, wife of Yeshiva University president emeritus, Rabbi Dr Norman Lamm, has passed away.
Mindella Lamm's niece, Shira Dicker, suggested in a social media post that her aunt had died of COVID-19.
"In memory of our dear Aunt Mindy Lamm, who held aloft the entire world. May her death not be in vain." Dicker wrote in a Facebook post, calling on the New York public to protect itself and wear masks.
"May her memory always be a blessing," she added. " May the leadership of this once great nation act in the best interest of its citizens. And may everybody adhere to public health and safety guidelines. #WearAFreakingMask."
Lamm was born in Midwood, Brooklyn, New York and attended a Bais Yaakov school before majoring in Education at Hunter College, the Five Towns Jewish Times reported. After graduating she worked in the public school system in New York.
Her husband was Chancellor of YU until his retirement in July 2013. A Dr. of Jewish philosophy, he was the third president of the university and the first to be born in America.
Following meeting her husband, Lamm reportedly threw herself into life at the University.
Speaking to the 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.”
The Lamms have four children: Dr. Chaye Warburg, Dr. Joshua Lamm, Shalom Lamm and Sara Dratch.
As their children grew older, Mindella accompanied her husband as he traveled the world to meet dignitaries, visiting Egypt, London, Paris, Australia and Beijing during her husband’s presidency.
“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," she said once. "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.”
Mindella "loved meeting Stern college students when I audited classes, which I did often,” she added, explaining that she also very much enjoyed visits by the students to the Lamm's summer home in Sackett Lake, New York.
Mindella's private burial took place on Friday, April 17. More than 800 people around the world tuned into her memorial service on Sunday afternoon on Zoom.