American Friends of Hebrew University Hold National Parley in Miami

High praise for the achievements of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was voiced today by President Kennedy in a message sent to the three-day national conference of the American Friends of the Hebrew University which was addressed here tonight by the Earl of Balfour.

“The Hebrew University,” President Kennedy said in his message,” serves as a beacon to all who believe that the future is with the spirit of free inquiry.” The message was read at a dinner at which Samuel Rothberg of Peoria, Illinois, was presented with the 1962 Scopus Award, the highest honor conferred by the American Friends. Mr. Rothberg is one of the chief donors of the Eliezer Kaplan School of Economics and Social Sciences at the university, and the main lecture hall in that building bears his name.

The Earl of Balfour, son of Lord Balfour who was the author of the Balfour Declaration promising the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine by the British Government, reviewed the story of the Hebrew University’s growth. He told the gathering of community leaders from all parts of the United States: “In contributing toward the university’s further progress, you help to expand the frontier of knowledge, to sustain Jewish intellectual achievement, and to provide a superb example to the newly independent nations of the redemptive power of education.” He recalled his father’s prediction in the “inevitable success” of the early Zionist experiment in Palestine.

Principal speakers at the dinner tonight included Dr. George S. Wise, chairman of the board of governors of the Hebrew University; Daniel G. Ross, chairman of the board of directors of the American Friends; Judge Louis E. Levinthal of Philadelphia and Jack S. Popick of Miami Beach. Messages of congratulations to Mr. Rothberg were received from Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion; Foreign Minister Golda Meir; Minister of Education Abba Eban; Dr. Nahum Goldmann and other American Jewish leaders.