Seven Years of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem: Sir Herbert Samuel and Mr. James De Rothschild in

Sir Herbert Samuel, the Home Secretary, and Mr. James de Rothschild, M.P. spoke to-day in an international broadcast celebration arranged here by the American Friends of the Hebrew University, of which Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, the famous book collector, is President, in celebration of the seventh anniversary of the Hebrew University. Others who took part in the celebration were Chief Rabbi Israel Levi of France, who spoke from Paris, and Herr Oscar Wassermann, Chairman of the Financial Committee of the Jewish Agency, and Dr. Thomas Mann, the great German writer, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1929.

It had been intended that the High Commissioner for Palestine, General Sir Arthur Wauchope, and Dr. J. L. Magnes, the Chancellor of the Hebrew University, should also speak from Jerusalem, but it was impossible to establish contact in time between Jerusalem and London, whence the speeches would have been relaid to America.

IN THE LONG RUN IDEAS NOT THINGS DOMINATE WORLD SAYS SIR HERBERT SAMUEL: I BELIEVE ARABS AND JEWS STILL DESTINED TO WORK TOGETHER IN FRIENDLY CO-OPERATION TO MUTUAL ADVANTAGE AND ADVANTAGE OF PALESTINE AND OF WORLD: HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM SEEKS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THAT END: MIDDLE EAST AND PALESTINE IN PARTICULAR MAY PLAY LEADING INSPIRING PART IN SPIRITUAL AND FINALLY POLITICAL UNION OF MANKIND

In the long run ideas, not things, dominate the world-the intellectual and spiritual, not the material and economic, Sir Herbert Samuel said. And we are living in a time when ideas are seething-rapidly changing. We are living in an age of transition. Of course, in a sense, we always have been. I remember the Dean of St. Paul’s saying that it is believed that when our first parents left Paradise, Adam said to Eve “My dear, we are living in an age of transition”.

But the present, above all, is such an age, and nowhere is the changefulness of things more marked than in the Near East. In Turkey the remarkable and complete transformation which is proceeding is a striking example. The countries separated from Turkey as the result of the War show also a rapid development-Palestine above all, the smallest of those countries yet the most significant, with its history unique in the world, its religious appeal, its absorbing present-day problems. There live side by side and intermingled, two highly-intelligent races-the Arabs and the Jews

races, which, together, through the Dark Ages, kept alight the torch of learning. I believe they are still destined to work together in friendly co-operation, to their mutual advantage and to the advantage of Palestine and of the world. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem seeks to contribute to that end.

The central principle of any University is to take all knowledge and all races within its province. The idea of a University and the idea of a narrow nationalism are in direct opposition to each other. The Hebrew University in Jerusalem must be not a disruptive, but a unifying force. There, in the very centre of the Old World, built, visibly, on the Hills above the most illustrious of Cities; built, invisibly, upon thousands of years of momentous history, the Hebrew University stands. For me, its opening was the most memorable ceremony in the five years of my Governorship of Palestine. I would enlist for that University your goodwill.

The forces that divide mankind and draw it asunder are very powerful-in these days very active, Sir Herbert concluded. But, in spite of them, the world is coming closer together. Easier communications help it. The possibility of an international broadcast, such as this, is an instance. Aristotle, accustomed to small City States, said that a State would be too large if the voice of a single herald could not be heard by all the people. Now, the voice of a single herald can carry to the most distant corners of the earth; and may predict in some future, not so distant perhaps as most may think, first, the spiritual, and finally, the political union of mankind. In that great evolution, I believe that the Middle East-and Palestine in particular may play a leading, and inspiring part.

MR. {SPAN}###E.{/SPAN} ROTHSCHILD SAYS HE IS BEARER OF MESSAGE FROM HIS FATHER BARON EDMOND TO ALL WHOSE INTEREST IN PALESTINE PROMPTS THEM TO LISTEN: RECALLS FIRST MEETING BETWEEN HIS FATHER AND DR. WEIZMANN WHEN THEY DECIDED TO CALL CONFERENCE OF DISTINGUISHED JEWS FROM ALL PARTS OF WORLD ON SUBJECT OF STARTING RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN JERUSALEM: GREAT WAR INTERVENED YET WITHIN FOUR YEARS WHILE I WAS STILL SERVING WITH ARMY IN PALESTINE HE SAYS I WAS DESTINED TO LAY IN MY FATHER’S NAME ONE OF THE FOUNDATION STONES OF THOS HEBREW UNIVERSITY: OUR AIM IN PALESTINE IS TO CREATE A PEOPLE OF WORKERS BUT TREASURES OF OUR AGE-LONG CULTURE AND RESULTS OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH MUST BE MADE ACCESSIBLE TO THEM

I am the bearer of a message of greeting for all of you whose interest in Palestine is prompting you to listen in to-day, Mr. James de Rothschild, M.P., said, a warm and friendly greeting from my father, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, to the Friends of the Hebrew University.

The first meeting between my father and Dr. Weizmann, who was then a young lecturer at Manchester University, he recalled, took place early in 1914, when they decided to call a Conference of distinguished Jews from all parts of the world on the subject of a Research Institute to be started in Jerusalem. This intellectual and peaceful symposium was to take place in Geneva, the same Geneva which has since become the city of peace.

But the Great War intervened, and the murderous sound of cannon and musketry appeared to have drowned definitely, the learned discussion which we had envisaged. Yet within four years, while I was still serving with the army in Palestine, I was destined to lay in my father’s name one of the foundation stones of this Hebrew University whose seventh birthday we are celebrating to-day.

The guns could still be heard only a few miles away, while on the barren heights of Mount Scopus, where now the lovely white buildings of the University gleam, surrounded by fragrant gardens, we realised how, out of the misery and desolation of warfare, there was being created the germ of a new life.

Among the twelve stones which were laid on that occasion were those laid by the Rabbis and representatives of the Hebrew communities in Palestine, by representatives of the colonies, of the writers of Hebrew, the artisans and labourers, the Hebrew soldiers, and the Jewish scientists. The Hebrew University as it stands to-day is truly emblematic of those ideas which prevailed at its inception.

The Institute of Jewish Studies, no doubt the most important section, is worthy of the great scholars who taught at Jabneh and Pumbeditha. It is the centre for promoting the knowledge of Judaism, the Jewish Religion, Hebrew and cognate languages, the knowledge of Jewish Literature, History, Law, Philosophy, the study of Jewish institutions and life, and the study of Palestine.

This Institute of Jewish Studies, the Faculty of Humanities and the Institute of Mathematics, are dedicated to pure science, but the practical side of science is not neglected. Although in chemistry and physics the general problems are approached, specialisation, which is symptomatic of this century, is directed towards the more immediate study of Palestinian flora and fauna, scientific methods of cultivation, Palestinian geology and parasitology, the chemical problems of the Dead Sea, and the problems of Near-Eastern hygiene.

This is a side of the University which cannot fail to appeal to you. Our aim in Palestine is to create a people of workers, of healthy agriculturists, a community of peaceful villagers, not large hectic cities. But the treasures of our age-long culture and the results of modern scientific research and modern discoveries must be made accessible to them. The short radius and short distances in Palestine facilitate such a development, and the University is adapting itself both to the needs of the people and to the craving for learning they have inherited from their ancestors, while Zion has become once more the fount of Jewish culture, whence the voice of our thinkers may influence mankind.

Visitors to the Lake of Geneva, Mr. de Rothschild concluded, are shown the River Rhone, a sparkling white stream coursing swiftly, through the still dark waters of the lake. Jewish culture, like the Rhone, has maintained itself distinct and pure for twenty centuries, coursing through the civilisations of many lands and many peoples. The Rhone, on emerging from the lake, resumes its course to the sea, a beneficent river, a noble highway, imparting fertility to the soil. The stream of Jewish learning and thought is now also flowing again, independent in its own channel, and the Hebrew University shows us that, like the Rhone, it has emerged fresh, vivifying, pure and undefiled.