D O C U M E N T 1 2 8 J A N U A R Y 1 9 2 8 1 3 7 128. To Chaim Weizmann Berlin W. 30, 8 January 1928 Dear Mr. Weizmann, I have received your invitation to the planned meeting of the board of trustees, and also the transcript of the letter that Dr. Magnes sent you.[1] I must now frankly tell you that in view of the whole state of affairs I consider my participation in this meeting or in the agitated internal discussion completely pointless. The situation is such that we here abroad only occasionally gain an in- sight into the inner process of development in Jerusalem, and that we are in general dependent on information that reaches us from the office there.[2] It is now clear that under these circumstances our objections and criticisms can easily be contra- dicted by the other side at the cost of a little dialectic, by means of counterargu- ments and reference to facts that we are not in a position to test, and in this way we can be given an image of completely satisfactory conditions in Jerusalem. In my opinion, the result is a merely apparent contentment that is clearly temporary and only makes things worse. For someone who has objectively followed the development of things over the last three years, there can really be no doubt regarding the essence of the situation. Starting from that first meeting in Tel Aviv, at which Dr. Magnes had himself ap- pointed the virtual general director of the university,[3] down to his recently issued proposals regarding the reorganization of the university’s administration, in which it is recommended that he, the chancellor or principal, be appointed not only the administrative but also the academic head of the university, a clear line runs through the whole development of the university administration that may have been somewhat slowed, for instance in Munich,[4] but was time and again doggedly further pursued. In the letter I sent to the board of trustees last year I pointed out several symptomatic manifestations of this tendency, and in the course of this year several effects of the incriminated condition there have appeared, which make the current situation seem entirely intolerable.[5] While the authority of the board of