Zakheim Withdraws Presidential Candidacy

By Shmuli Singer and Steven I. Weiss

Commentator sources confirmed on Tuesday that Undersecretary of Defense Dr. Dov Zakheim withdrew his name from consideration as the successor to Yeshiva President Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, after a week of heated debate in the Yeshiva community surrounding his candidacy.  No official reason for his withdrawal had been cited at press time, though a source on Yeshiva’s Board of Trustees revealed that Zakheim could attribute his decision to his lack of stature as a Jewish scholar.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees Robert Beren and Search Committee chairman Michael Jesselson had confirmed last week that Zakheim had been the only candidate suggested by Jesselson’s committee.  News of his nomination sparked significant controversy, as Zakheim, a career administrator with no religious leadership or communal background, was viewed as a potential break in the rabbinic tradition of past Yeshiva presidents.

Zakheim’s rabbinic inexperience led RIETS insiders to believe that he could be confirmed as University President, but not as RIETS president, potentially driving a wedge between the governance of the two affiliated institutions.  In an impassioned speech Sunday at Yeshiva’s Chag HaSemicha, Rabbi Lamm addressed this concern, repeatedly emphasized the necessity of maintaining Yeshiva’s unified presidency.  “If you separate them [RIETS and the university],” Lamm cried, “Yeshiva University is a body without a soul, without a spirit: a corpse.  And RIETS without Yeshiva University as its body is but a ghost.”

The issue of publicly opposing Zakheim’s potential confirmation was discussed at emergency meetings of the Roshei HaYeshiva.  Sources at the meetings indicated that the participants were expecting to release a statement on Wednesday morning.  Concurrently, the RIETS Board deliberated approving Zakheim in a session on Monday evening.  Ultimately, however the RIETS board postponed its vote indefinitely, on decision by RIETS Board Chairman Rabbi Julius Berman, pending discussions of Yeshiva’s Board of Trustees.

Lamm’s speech also fueled a raging debate on campus, with rallies for and against Zakheim’s nomination planned by various student groups.

Responding to anti-Zakheim flyers distributed by students at the Chag Hasemicha, Beren said that he had not previously been aware of students’ feelings regarding the new president, but, upon receiving flyers at the Chag HaSemicha, he said, “we’ll certainly take into account the diverse views of the Yeshiva community.”

Whether the uproar on campus contributed to Zakheim’s withdrawal is unknown.  However, at a meeting of the Board of Trustees early Tuesday evening, members discussed Zakheim’s withdrawal and the reasons that would be given for it.  One board member opined that Zakheim had three options.  The first would be to say that he withdrew “because of [his responsibilities in] Washington,” an option that Zakheim rejected, “because he had already told [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld that he was being considered and got his OK.”  The second would be to say that Zakheim withdrew “because of personal” reasons, also rejected by Zakheim.  The third option, which the board member declared Zakheim to be “sticking to,” is “his ‘I’m not a Judaic scholar’ excuse.”

Despite this seeming inadequacy, members of the Search Committee told The Commentator that Zakheim’s selection was the result of a necessary compromise.  “We had tried to get someone with the ideal three categories [of Torah leader, academic scholar, and capable administrator],” said one member.  The member added, “when we couldn’t find that ideal candidate, we looked for someone with the best combination [of the three].”

Beren, who also chairs the Selection Committee, echoed this sentiment, remarking that “the general consensus is that we would have to have a candidate who was the equal of the Rav, and the greatest administrator of a university ever, and a remarkable representative of Modern Orthodoxy, and a great spokesperson for Modern Orthodoxy; I don’t know that such a candidate exists...It’s pretty hard to find the perfect candidate wrapped up in a pretty cover, instead we have to do the best to find someone with the most qualities.”

With Zakheim out of the running, Beren predicted that the search would now return to the Search Committee, with Rabbi Lamm available to remain longer if the necessity arises.  “I think they’ll have to look at names that they already have looked at, and restudy them,” he declared. 

The Search Committee is the first step in a candidate’s nomination process.  Approval by the committee, which can recommend several candidates, is followed by the deliberations of the Selection Committee, which consists of the current officers of the Board of Trustees, as well as the chairmen of the Einstein, Cardozo, and RIETS Boards.  The Selection Committee will submit one candidate to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.  If approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, the candidate’s nomination will be brought before the full Board of Trustees, who will vote for the President.