I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 6 l i III. The Hebrew University and Other Jewish Matters During the period of this volume, the Jewish community in Germany underwent some significant political developments. In light of a resurgence of the Nazi move- ment and a corresponding increase in anti-Jewish propaganda, the newer leader- ship of the two major organizations sought rapprochement rather than continued confrontation. Consequently, the assimilationist Centralverein deutscher Staats- bürger jüdischen Glaubens, led by Julius Brodnitz, began to tone down its anti- Zionist stance. For its part, the Zionistische Vereinigung für Deutschland, headed by Kurt Blumenfeld, adopted a socialist idealist political orientation and continued to strive toward the cooptation of non-Zionists for its cause.[22] Demographically, two significant trends emerged in the community at this time: an increase in inter- marriage and a declining birthrate.[23] The Jews in Eastern Europe faced significant challenges. The severe economic crises that afflicted the region in the late 1920s had a particularly harsh impact on the various Jewish communities. They were confronted with discriminatory legal measures, high taxation, commercial boycotts, and bankruptcy. To mitigate these adverse developments, large-scale philanthropic efforts, especially from the Joint Distribution Committee and the American Joint Reconstruction Foundation, pro- vided critical aid to impoverished Jews.[24] The international Zionist movement dealt with two crucial issues during this period—the dire economic conditions in Palestine and the planned enlargement of the Jewish Agency. At the 15th Zionist Congress held in August–September 1927 in Basel, Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann faced major challenges from his political opponents on both these matters. The severe economic crisis threatened the very survival of the Yishuv, the local Jewish community. It led to rising unemployment, a negative migration balance, and the Zionist Organisation teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. To provide some relief, the Zionist Executive initiated a “scheme in- volving building works, road construction, irrigation and land amelioration.”[25] The efforts to enlarge the Jewish Agency for Palestine, to be composed of repre- sentatives of both Zionist and non-Zionist organizations among world Jewry, continued afoot during this period. The negotiations, begun in 1923, were headed by Weizmann and American Jewish philanthropist Louis Marshall and were near- ing successful completion by mid-1929. This was also a period in which relations between the Jewish and Arab communities in Palestine seemed, for the most part, to be improving.[26] The Hebrew University in Jerusalem continued to be the primary Jewish enter- prise with which Einstein concerned himself. By May 1927, he had de facto resigned from active involvement in the governance of the university owing to his intense worries about academic quality and disapproval of chancellor Judah L.