Stone Foundation Draws the Line on Divisiveness

Cleveland Charitable Group Cites YU as Funding Priority

The Sapirstein-Stone-Weiss Foundation, a Cleveland-based family foundation comprised of the owners of the American Greetings Corporation, recently released a statement declaring that it will be directing its family's considerable resources away from institutions that "sow divisiveness among Jews," and toward those more open to religious pluralism. Accordingly, Yeshiva University has been placed on the top of the Foundation's list of institutions to support.

Mr. Irving Stone, the founder of American Greetings, said in a published report that his family's statement was prompted by an incident last year in which a member of Agudath Israel of America's Council of Torah Sages, Rabbi Elya Svei, publicly assailed Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, President of YU. At the time, Lamm had gone on the record in support of the recommendations of the Ne'eman Commission which was attempting to solve Israel's pluralism and conversion crisis.

Rabbi Svei, who heads the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, called Lamm a "Sonai Hashem" or "hater of God." "That bothered me terribly," said Mr. Stone. "Our people is too small…Nobody should attack the other. If you are going to fight with others, we'll cut you way back."

The Stone family's statement reads, "Regretfully in our times, we have heard many voices that are deeply troubling to us. They serve more to divide our Jewish people than to unite us. Effective immediately, we have chosen to provide financial support exclusively to those individuals and/or institutions whose public views encourage unity among Jews... We expect all those who accept our contribution and financial support to share our concern and join us in speaking out against those who attempt to divide us." The statement represents a bolstering of Modern Orthodox institutions and a warning to some of the Ultra-Orthodox voices that have sought to attack Judaism's modern and non-Orthodox movements. "We have been supportive of Jewish education within all denominations throughout the world," the statement says. "Our belief is that Jewish education should be available to all our children."

Rabbi Lamm was unavailable for comment, but Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky, Vice President for University Affairs, proclaimed "The outrage expressed [by the Stone family] at the manner in which Dr. Lamm was publicly described by a famous rabbinical leader, without repercussions from any of the thirty-five-hundred people present reflects a sentiment widely felt by the general Torah community. The Torah community cannot understand how rabbeim, who are supposed to be harbingers of peace, can publicly sow such seeds of disunity."

Since the Sapirstein-Stone-Weiss Foundation supports several hundred Orthodox institutions around the world, the move could affect scores of institutions. The Stone family underwrites the widely known Stone edition of the Torah, published by Artscroll/Mesorah and found in Orthodox synagogues throughout North America; the Sapirstein family funds the publication of Artscroll's edition of Rashi. Morry Weiss, the CEO of American Greetings and son-in-law of Mr. Stone, declined to name the institutions that might be negatively affected by his family's statement on Jewish unity. Instead, in a published report, he emphasized the organizations that would be helped. Named as top financial priority is Yeshiva University, which Mr. Weiss suggested "is setting a wonderful tone for Yiddishkeit, a centrist Judaism."

The family has already made tangible its support of Yeshiva in a number of ways; among them the establishment of the Stone Beit Medrash Program and the Irving Stone Distinguished Professorship at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education.

The family also supports Ohr Torah Stone, an institution in Israel headed by RIETS musmakh Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. Mr. Weiss also mentioned "Edah," an organization directed by RIETS musmakh Rabbi Saul Berman, as an organization deserving of support for its "positive outreach."