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 i i bers of the scientific communities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and writers, teachers, and journalists. Arab dignitaries were invited but did not attend. The local Jewish press described it as a “national festival.” Einstein had remained committed to assisting with the establishment of the He- brew University, raising funds following his trip to the United States in 1921. In April 1922, he had received a donation of 10,000 US dollars from the German- American inventor Emile Berliner for the planned physics and physical chemistry institute at the university (Docs. 36 and 128). Shortly afterwards, during Einstein’s brief visit to Paris, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild had handed him “a not- empty leather bag in farewell,” which may have contained a donation for the uni- versity (Doc. 134). Before visiting Palestine, he had been unable to recommend that “an established physicist who is not altogether possessed by idealism” should go to the Technion, since that institution focused on technology. Instead, he would recommend the Hebrew University, because he envisaged it as a research institute (Doc. 72). After three years of being associated with the Zionist movement, Einstein was not always pleased with its demands on him. His ambivalence can be gleaned fol- lowing his visit to Leyden in the spring of 1922. When Ehrenfest recounted how he had been forced to dismiss “a (very unappealing) organizer of Zionist lectures,” Einstein commiserated: “The Zionists are shameless and pushy I have difficulty al- ways assuming the proper stance each time, considering that I am, of course, sym- pathetic to the cause” (Docs. 191 and 193). But he continued his efforts on behalf of the university’s library. In July 1922, he assented to Weizmann’s request that he intervene with the New Century Club in Boston in finalizing the transfer to the Zi- onist movement of funds raised during their joint U.S. tour, especially since money was urgently needed to purchase the Baron David Guenzburg Library in Petrograd, one of the most significant collections of Judaica and Orientalia at the time (Docs. 256 and 294). Einstein also kept abreast of Weizmann’s political exploits, and, in early September, congratulated him on the ratification of the British Man- date in Palestine by the League of Nations (Doc. 341). On 8 February, the Einsteins traveled by car to Tel Aviv. They first toured the Herzliya Gymnasium, the most prestigious high school in the Yishuv, and then attended a reception at City Hall, where Einstein was welcomed by Mayor Meir Dizengoff and named the first honorary citizen of Tel Aviv. According to press reports, the streets were “lined with throngs of people.”[44] Ben-Zion Mossinson addressed the crowd. He announced that Einstein was studying Hebrew and even hoped to teach in that language in Jerusalem. In the afternoon, the Einsteins were shown some of the city’s major industrial, educational, and agricultural facilities.