D O C . 6 2 F O U N D I N G O F H E B R E W U N I V E R S I T Y 4 4 7
Published in Jüdische Pressezentrale Zürich, 26 August 1921, p. [1].
[1]A resolution “to examine the possibility of founding a Jewish College in Palestine” had already
been passed at the 5th Zionist Congress in 1901 (see Proposed HU 1924, p. [1]). The 12th Congress
was to be held the following month.
In autumn 1919, Hugo Bergmann, Secretary of the newly created Education Department of the
international Zionist Organization, had invited Einstein to attend a conference of scholars to discuss
preliminary planning for a university (see Hugo Bergmann to Einstein, 22 October 1919). Points to
be discussed at the conference, scheduled for mid-January 1920 in Basel, were instruction in Jewish
studies and philosophical-philological subjects; creation of natural science and medical faculties; and
instruction in law, sociology, and economics (see Hugo Bergmann to Einstein, 21 November 1919;
Shmarya Levin to Einstein, 27 November 1919; and Berliner Tageblatt, 12 December 1919, Morning
Edition, p. [3]). Einstein accepted the invitation (see Einstein to Hugo Bergmann, 5 November 1919),
but the conference was postponed (see Einstein to Heinrich Zangger, 24 December 1919, Estate of
Heinrich Zangger, Zurich).
A proposal drawn up after postponement of the conference was more modest. Stating that the
building available on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem was “not fit to house a complete University,” it called
for “a nucleus” of “several small institutions,” including research institutes for physics, chemistry,
and microbiology, as well as a Hebrew institute. All four institutes were to train specialists, not un-
dergraduates. A general course in the arts to be taught by visiting lecturers was also contemplated.
See “Statement on the Present Position of the University Question,” 21 January 1920.
[2]For the importance attached to medical and microbiological research at the university, see Doc.
59, notes 7–9. Before departing Germany on his American tour, Einstein emphasized that the relevant
institutes ought to investigate “the natural conditions of Palestine” (“die natürlichen Bedingungen
Palästinas”), giving precedence to an agricultural institute and perhaps also a chemical institute. They
“must establish a close relationship with already existing agricultural experimental stations and
schools as well as those still to be created” (“müssen in engste Berührung treten mit den bereits beste-
henden und noch zu entwicklenden Versuchstationen und Lehranstalten der Landwirtschaft”). See
interview in Vossische Zeitung, 27 March 1921, Morning Edition, Supplement 1, p. 1.
[3]At the end of 1919, Einstein had dismissed the need for instruction in theoretical physics at the
university, arguing that “one does not begin with the roof when constructing a house” (“Man fängt
doch bei dem Bau eines Hauses nicht mit dem Dache an”), though perhaps only because he had no
intention at that time of accepting an appointment (see interview of 18 December 1919 in Neues
Wiener Journal, 25 December 1919, p. 5).
[4]Einstein’s interest in the history and language of the Jews may have been kindled in early 1919
when he attended the first meeting of the Society for the Founding and Preservation of an Academy
for the Science of Judaism (Verein zur Gründung und Erhaltung einer Akademie für die Wissenschaft
des Judentums; see Myers 1992, p. 116, and Meyer 2000, pp. 126–128). Just before leaving for
America two years later, he spoke of the need to advance study in these subjects by setting up an
“Oriental institute, which serves to explore the country, its historic monuments and local languages”
(“ein orientalisches Institut, welches der Erforschung des Landes, seiner historischen Denkmäler und
der Landessprachen dient”), including Hebrew and Arabic (see interview in Vossische Zeitung, 27
March 1921, Morning Edition, Supplement 1, p. 1).
[5]Lectures, Einstein pointed out, “would not be urgent at the outset in view of the fact that the
Jewish population is still comparatively small, but the university will grow with the growth of the
population and its teaching activities will be increased accordingly.” Special interviews by the Jewish
Correspondence Bureau with Chaim Weizmann and Einstein, in Yidishes Tageblat·The Jewish Daily
News, 3 April 1921, p. [1].
[6]“After witnessing countless examples recently how perfidiously and coldly one treats splendid
young Jews here and seeks to deny them any possibility of getting an education” (“nachdem ich in
letzter Zeit an unzähligen Beispielen gesehen habe, wie perfid und lieblos man hier mit prächtigen
jungen Juden umgeht und ihnen die Bildungsmöglichkeiten abzuschneiden sucht”; Einstein to Fritz
Haber, 9 March 1921), it had become “a question of necessity” for Einstein to help in the creation of
a Jewish university (see Doc. 59, note 6). Such an institution would also “offset Jewish assimilation”;
special interviews by the Jewish Correspondence Bureau with Chaim Weizmann and Einstein, in