I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 3 l x v concluded that they no longer wanted him to come. He expressed his hope that this “sad misunderstanding” could be redressed in the future (Doc. 403). When, on his return voyage, Einstein stopped in Shanghai again on 31 Decem- ber 1922, he only attended a discussion on relativity hosted by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and the Quest Society, a popular science club. He described the discussion as a “comedy with dumb questions” (Doc. 379, [p. 28v]). The Ger- man consul had attempted to arrange a lecture, to be held at the Tongji University School of Engineering, but received no reply, and a postcard from Elsa Einstein had declined an invitation to a reception by the German Association. When the consul learned that Einstein would give a talk on relativity theory at a closed reception of the Jewish community, he informed the Foreign Ministry that he had decided to ig- nore Einstein’s visit.[37] After a second visit to Singapore, the Haruna Maru took a slightly different route from the outward-bound journey back to Egypt. The ship called at Malacca, Penang, Colombo, Suez, and then finally Port Said, where the Einsteins disem- barked on 1 February 1923. They traveled by train from Port Said to Kantara (Al Qantarah), and then overnight from Kantara to Lydda (Lod) in Palestine. Already in late 1921, Einstein seems to have envisaged a visit to Palestine, where he could view for himself the settlement activities of the Yishuv, the local Jewish community.[38] At the time, Chaim Weizmann advised him that “there is as yet no great urgency to travel to Palestine.”[39] But shortly before his departure from Berlin for Japan, Einstein conferred with German Zionist Kurt Blumenfeld and confirmed that he had accepted the invitation of Arthur Ruppin, the director of the Palestine bureau, to visit the country for ten days.[40] The Einsteins were greeted at the Lod railway station by senior Zionist officials, including Menachem Ussishkin, president of the Zionist Executive Ben-Zion Mossinson, member of the General Zionist Council and director of the Herzliya Gymnasium and Colonel Frederick H. Kisch, director of the political department of the Zionist Executive. They continued by train to Jerusalem, where they were reunited with Solomon Ginzberg, the British Mandate’s inspector of education, who had served as Einstein’s secretary during his tour of the United States in spring 1921.[41] In Jerusalem, the Einsteins were greeted by Captain L.G.A. Cust, aide-de-camp to Sir Herbert Samuel, the British high commissioner, who drove them to the com- missioner’s residence on the Mount of Olives. There they met their host, Sir Herbert, about whom Einstein wrote: “English formality. Fine, well-rounded edu- cation. Lofty view of life, tempered by humor.” After a walk the next day into the Old City of Jerusalem, Einstein recorded his first impressions. He described the Al- Aqsa Mosque as “a basilica-like mosque of mediocre taste.” He was struck by the