Vision and Fulfillment THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY 1925-1950 BY Lotta Levensohn NEW YORK THE GREYSTONE PRESS 1950 Contents Introduction 7 1. Hebrew University From Idea to Reality 17 2. The University Grows and Takes Shape 35 3. The University in World War II 64 4. In the War for Israels Independence 73 5. The Hebrew University and the State 107 6. The University and the Jewish People 1 2 3 7. The Jewish National and University Library 133 8. Friends of the University From Many Lands 142 9. The United States and the University 153 10. Dr. Judah Leib Magnes In Memoriam 166 11. The University as the Spiritual Center 170 APPENDIX The Board of Governors of the Hebrew University 175 Officers of the Hebrew University 177 Faculty of the Hebrew University 1 79 Officers and Board of Directors of the American Friends of the Hebrew University 185 Officers of the Chapters of the Ameri can Friends of the Hebrew Uni versity 187 Introduction BEFORE an illustrious gathering of scholars and statesmen and Zionist leaders from the four cor ners of the earth Dr. Chaim Weizmann dedicated the new Hebrew University on historic Mount Scopus in April 1925. It was a symbolic gesture. Once before, in 1918, just as General Allenby had liberated Jerusalem, he made the heroic ges ture of laying the corner stone of the future Uni-7 versity. Both were acts of infinite faith, of long dreams, of ardent hopes, of eternal longing, and of great courage. There was nothing on Mount Scopus in 1918, and only one or two laboratory buildings and an open air amphitheatre in 1925. Not a University as yet but an idea, and the promise of one. The promise has been kept. Over tortuous paths, midst trials and tribulations, through joy and sorrow, the ideal has been turned into a reality. Today there is a modern Hebrew University, the first one in history, in the holy city of Jerusalem, on the sacred soil of Israel. And so we give thanks, and rejoice, and com memorate the event, however inadequately, in the volume before us. With pride and humility, with hope for the future, we record the semi jubilee. Twenty-five years are but a brief moment in the life of a University. Traditions are not built overnight. Classrooms and laboratories and li braries and campuses alone do not make a uni versity. Great teachers and scholars do. Above all there must be a tradition of learning and a rich cultural heritage. These take time to strike abiding roots, to grow and to flourish. Fortu nately for the Hebrew University, the Jewish 8 people have a very old tradition of learning. Academies have flourished almost uninterruptedly from the days before Hillel and Shammai through the ages down to the Yeshivahs of our own days. The very hills and valleys of Palestine echo the voices and traditions of ages. The soil of Israel is congenial to the spirit of the University. Its roots will strike deep in the city of David, and the Torah will continue to go forth from Zion. American Jews have watched over the growth of the Hebrew University with special interest and affection. For, though the University is in Jerusalem and belongs to the state of Israel, it also belongs to the whole Jewish people. It is not and will not be a state university. And it will continue to be a house of learning for all people, free and untrammeled. In it will dwell ethics and morals and social justice and the spirit of democ racy. To fulfill its destiny the Hebrew University must be strengthened and be made to grow into a great academy of learning. It is the blessed op portunity of American Jewry to dedicate itself to this task. Despite the great love of American Jews for Israel and their generous aid in the building of the land, the University has not re ceived the support which it so richly deserves. The University has a great deal to give us, as we have much to give in return. The new Univer sity-Temple will provide the spiritual link be tween Israel and the Diaspora...