D O C U M E N T 2 0 7 J U N E 1 9 2 8 3 3 9 Ich werde dieser Tage ja beide Herren hier treffen und versuchen mir ein Bild zu machen wer besser in das Bild passt nicht nur akademisch, denn da wäre ja Ihre Ansicht ausschlag gebend sondern wer besser aus diesen Collegen und möglichen Finanzen etwas schaffen kann das erstklassig und nicht ewig klagend & zankend da stehen wird.— Uber den pessimistischen Brief an Weizman & mich sage ich lieber nichts.[24]— Sie beurteilen Magnes unrichtig als Mensch.—Er sprach mit Landau ohne Obligo ebenso wie hier mit Brodetsky nur versuchsweise gesprochen wurde.[25]— Ich wuerde mich sehr freuen falls ich von Ihnen hier c/o/Weizman Montag ein Telegram erhalten könnte das sagen würde dass mit besseren Befinden Ihrerseits Sie Ihre Meinung über Magnes modifizieren & falls Schritte gemacht werden für academic head Ihnen die Wahl der Governors ganz befriedigend sein wuerde selbst wenn dieselbe nicht auf längere Zeit und mit beschränkteren Befugnissen als von Ihnen angeregt geschehen würde.— Gute Besserung & auf baldiges Wiedersehen Ihr Sie hochschätzender Felix M Warburg ALS. [37 001]. Written in pencil on lined paper. [1] The fourth meeting of the BOGHU was about to take place in London between 3 and 5 June. The meeting was planned to coincide with Warburg’s visit to Europe (see Abs. 513). [2] Judah L. Magnes. Chaim Weizmann. [3] This seems to be a variation on the well-known saying attributed to the early modern era printer Johann Manlius: “Gott beschütze mich vor meinen Freunden mit meinen Feinden will ich schon selbst fertig werden.” (“God protect me from my friends I’ll deal with my enemies myself” see Heine 1979, p. 162). [4] At the time, Weizmann was involved in the disputes between various factions within American Jewry on the pending findings of the Joint Palestine Survey Commission, which had been established by Weizmann and American non-Zionist Jewish leader Louis Marshall (see Weizmann 1978, p. xvi). [5] See Docs. 202, 201, and 203. [6] The earliest documented contact between Warburg and Magnes is from October 1908 (see Felix M. Warburg to Judah L. Magnes, 23 October 1908 [IL-JeCAH]). [7] During his tenure, a serious conflict emerged between Magnes and the board of trustees of Tem- ple Emanu-El. He became increasingly critical of what he perceived as the assimilationist tendencies of the board. He wanted to enact a “counter-reformation” at the temple and reintroduce more tradi- tional Jewish practices to the congregation. The congregants were divided in their support for and opposition to Magnes. Warburg belonged to Magnes’s backers. In 1910, Magnes resigned his position as rabbi of the temple (see Kotzin 2010, pp. 80–86). [8] Magnes had served as chairman of the New York Kehillah from 1909 to 1922. The Kehillah was a Jewish communal organization “that attempted, with varying degrees of success, to unify and orga- nize the fractured New York Jewish community.” The principles Magnes promoted as leader of the Kehillah were “American progressive ideals of democracy and efficiency, and cultural Zionism.” During his tenure, Magnes aligned himself with “the ‘downtown’ Jewish immigrants” of New York from Eastern Europe and encouraged them to collaborate with the “uptown ‘German’ Jews” who formed the Jewish elite in the city. Nevertheless, this led to a clash between Magnes and his brother- in-law Louis Marshall over the ways in which the Jewish community should be organized. In 1917, American Jewish leaders became wary of Magnes’s position as a radical pacifist and his pro-Soviet stance. This led to a restriction of his roles within the Kehillah (see Kotzin 2010, pp. 103–105 and 152–154).