1 9 8 D O C U M E N T 2 0 3 M A Y 1 9 2 8 of trustees in a very public way. But I will not let it go at that, which would obvi- ously be very pleasing to the gentlemen, and simply withdraw, but instead I will publicly lay out the reasons and the circumstances that have led me to take this step. I would ask you to show this letter to Mr. Felix Warburg as well. Sincerely yours, A. Einstein 203. To Chaim Weizmann Berlin, 29 May 1928 Dear Mr. Weizmann, I would like to ask you, when the board of trustees comes to the discussion of the appointment of the academic head, to recommend in both our names, as agreed, the choice of Professor Brodetsky.[1] After long reflection on the question and after also looking around for a suitable candidate, I have arrived at the conviction that we can find no better man than him for this responsible post. This conviction has been very significantly deepened by the discussions that I have had with him re- garding the question of the curriculum and the further development of the university.[2] From these discussions I derived a very strong impression of his fun- damental understanding of the problems of building up a university. What seems to me most essential is that he has principles and therefore can build on them.[3] He will be able to recognize the real needs of the developing situation, and also to as- sess them correctly. At the same time that he goes into the demands of the moment, he will surely and consistently lay down the guidelines for the overall development of the university. In the letter to the board of trustees[4] I have sought to show that for this position we do not need merely a big name, but rather a competent worker who knows the problems of an academic university’s administration out of practi- cal experience, fundamentally understands the educational problems of Jewish Pal- estine, and has the aptitude and the will to devote, over many years, his best abilities to the university’s academic development. After all these considerations, Professor Brodetsky seems to me to be the right man. The university’s prestige— and we should not deceive ourselves about this—will ultimately depend not on whether a big name is at the head of it, but rather on whether serious and respect- able scientific work is being done by all involved. Therefore all our striving must be directed toward creating the presuppositions for an overall scientific achieve- ment that makes the university worthy of representing the Jewish people. The es- sential presupposition for this is that a man is in charge there whom we can trust,
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