It could just be a template that they use and the guy forgot to update the date from a previous letter
Discussion
Or a template that automatically adds the date, and our questionable rabbi didnt notice 😉
I find the "template from previous letter" explanation very hard to believe. He hadnt written a letter in ten days?
Also I dont think a template like that would be set up where you have to manually enter the date, that kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a template
When I was in school, I’d open my old essays and copy the title page over to a new file. Then I’d edit the info. I never made the mistake of forgetting to edit a piece of info but it is certainly possible. It’s plausible.
Highly unlikely that the president of a prestigious institution that writes letters likely every day has that same flow.
I appreciate you steelmanning the argument, and its certainly POSSIBLE, but very very highly unlikely