Signaling the official beginning of the search process for Yeshiva's new president, a letter from Presidential Search Committee Chairman Michael Jesselson went out at the end of August to Yeshiva alumni, faculty, senior staff and trustees soliciting recommendations and submissions of resumes for the position of successor to Dr. Norman Lamm. Until now, the Presidential Advisory Committee's sporadic meetings over the summer had marked the only action on the search front, as the body of 50 tried to hammer out recommendations for a description of Yeshiva's ideal candidate. The current letter marks the shift of the process to the Search Committee, which will evaluate applicants for the job with the aid of the executive search firm Korn/Ferry.

While the missive signed by Jesselson was sent through Yeshiva internally, and was addressed solely to members of the Yeshiva community, the broader Jewish community has been informed of the search's commencement as well. University Vice President of Academic Affairs and search process coordinator Dr. Morton Lowengrub informed The Commentator that other letters had been drafted by Korn/Ferry addressed to Judaic Studies departments, deans and Jewish Community leaders in America, Israel and England.

Surprisingly, the internal communiqu adopted few of the guidelines drafted by the Advisory Committee, calling instead for "an individual of high intellectual distinction with proven qualities of leadership[and] a dedication to the ideals, values and mission of this distinctive university"

In contrast, the Advisory Committee had called for "scholarly Torah erudition and spiritual stature," and for "a singular individual who will command the respect of theRoshei Yeshiva." This strong religious emphasis seemed missing in the recent letter, and one person close to the process questioned what sort of message Yeshiva was sending about the job's requirements. "This is the first public communication, and it forces us to ask whether Yeshiva truly is committed to finding a president who embodies Torah U'Madda," he said gravely.

Others involved in the process scoffed at this suggestion, though. This letter, like any letter introducing a search process, doesn't outline the job in detail," explained Lowengrub. "It's simply a call for a nomination." Another Yeshiva insider raised a different possible explanation for the letter's text. "It's there because Yeshiva is an equal opportunity employer, and needs to act as though the job is open to all applicants," the veteran administrator speculated. "I'm sure that Yeshiva's lawyers made them put his language in."

Not everyone in the know accepted this argument so readily, however. "This was an internal letter, for internal Yeshiva consumption," one member of the Yeshiva community pointed out, "So why did it have to be so legally vague? A public letter from the search firm might require such language, but why the need for legalese all in the Yeshiva family?" In addition, a member of the Advisory Committee questioned, "If the lawyers made them take out the requirements we established, then what was the Advisory Committee's role?"

Whatever the letter's motivation, it signals the start of a less newsworthy period in the search process, as applications are received and evaluated. "I expect that we'll see a very quiet phase for a long while," predicted Lowengrub.