Hebrew University Repays Loan of $25,000, Granted for Earthquake Repairs

A loan of $25,000 for the. Hebrew University for prepairs necessary following the earthquake in Palestine last summer was secured by the Distribution Committee of the New York Community Trust through the cooperation of the permanent trust fund created by Mr. and Mrs. Felix M. Warburg. The loan was repaid on May 8, 1928.

It became known that following the earthquake of last July in Palestine, a permanent fund previously created by Mr. and Mrs. Felix M. Warburg in the New York Community Trust was made the means of assuring the loan to the Hebrew University for immediate reconstruction work so that the repair of the University would not be delayed pending the raising and transmission of newly collected relief funds.

In 1925, Mr. and Mrs. Warburg had set up in the Community Trust, a fund of $500,000, in honor of Moritz and Charlotte Warburg, parents of Felix M. Warburg. The income of this permanent fund is periodically appropriated to the University in Jerusalem.

Looking forward to such an emergency as was unfortunately to occur in two years, the trust agreement contained the provision that a portion of the fund might, “in the discretion of said Committee on Distribution, be loaned upon such terms and conditions as it may deem expedient, to the Trustees of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Jerusalem for the purchase of proper buildings and equipment. . . .”

Upon learning of the damage inflicted upon the University during the earthquake, the Distribution Committee of the Community Trust, with the approval of Mr. Warburg, instructed its secretary to negotiate a loan, upon the security of the principal of the Memorial Fund, and to transmit this amount at once to Palestine through the American Advisory Committee of the University. The Memorial Fund being utilized as security for the loan, its own principal was not depleted. The loan was advanced on Oct. 13, 1927 and repaid on May 8, 1928.

Thomas Williams, Chairman of the Distribution Committee said concerning the transaction: “Knowing the foresight of Mr. Warburg, we were more gratified than surprised to find when the need suddenly arose, that his wisdom had put into the trust agreement a clause that enabled us to be helpful in the emergency. In the cases of such disasters, it is not merely funds, but funds in time that are needed and with characteristic prudence, Mr. Warburg had contrived to make doubly useful the memorial set up by Mrs. Warburg and himself.”