I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 6 l x x x v wrote that Einstein was “the ideal Jew of the twentieth century” (Abs. 970). He also received an album of drawings from a children’s home in Thuringia and a bundle of colorful postcards from Jewish schoolboys in Berlin (Abs. 987, 1037). Some of the celebratory correspondence reveals previously unknown or opaque aspects of Einstein’s youth. His former Munich religious instruction teacher, Heinrich Friedmann, recalled giving Einstein preparatory lessons for his bar mitzvah, the only extant indication that he may have undergone this rite of passage (Doc. 429). In response, the former pupil expressed regret for not having been more diligent in the study of the language and literature of “our forefathers.” Einstein claimed to read the Old Testament often, alas not in Hebrew, and commended his former teacher for having fought bravely “against laziness and monkey business” (Doc. 454). Of the many tributes accorded to Einstein on his birthday, one may mention that Ulm, the city of his birth, named a street after him (Abs. 1070). Intriguingly, no public celebrations were held in Berlin, apparently at Einstein’s request. But the Einstein Jubilee Celebration threw an impressive fete at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in mid-April. The event was “arranged under the auspices of the Einstein Jubilee Committee in conjunction with the Jewish National Fund and the Zionist Organization of America” and attended by an audience of 3,500. The press pointed out that “although Prof. Einstein had declined every invitation and every request for permission to hold celebrations in his honor when his birthday was observed a month ago in Berlin, he gave his permission to the Jewish National Fund because of his eagerness to help attract the interest of American Jews in the Palestine work.”[64] The many tributes led Einstein to develop new ways of referring to his public persona. In his message to the Jubilee Committee, he told them they were celebrat- ing “a legend bearing my name”—the first such public reference to himself (Doc. 497).[65] And he expressed his delight at the newly inaugurated U.S. Presi- dent Herbert Hoover’s greetings because they were a testimony to the high regard in which the powerful of the world hold intellectual values (Doc. 519). In addition to messages and tributes, Einstein received several noteworthy gifts for his special day. He hinted to Eduard that not all the presents would be equally welcome, as “big things” would not suit his “Gypsy-like way of life” (Doc. 416). One gift was Einstein 1929a, the first anthology of writings by Einstein to ever ap- pear. Intriguingly, there are no extant references to this compendium in Einstein’s correspondence, published by the Soncino-Gesellschaft der Freunde des jüdischen Buches zu Berlin, a Jewish bibliophile society. The book contained a variety of writings by Einstein, most of which had been previously published.