“A more glorious university” in Palestine will emerge from the present war, Dr. Chaim Weizmann declared last night at the 20th anniversary dinner of the American Jewish Physicians’ Committee, held in conjunction with the American Friends of the Hebrew University at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria.
Dr. Weismann recalled that in 1918, when he asked General Allenby for permission to lay the foundation stone of the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, ten miles from the firing line, the British commander told him he was crazy, but seven years later declared that the act “gave confidence to my army because they thought that here is one man who has faith.”
“Just as England, battered, broken, will rebuild the ruins of Westminster Abbey, so we shall accomplish and rebuild a more glorious university, a more glorious Tel Aviv and a more glorious Haifa, as long as we keep faith,” he said.
Prof. Albert Einstein, in a brief address, stressed that unity among Jews was needed now more than ever before. Other speakers were Dr. Nathan B. Van Etten, president of the American Medical Association; Edward M.M. Warburg, Dr. Israel Strauss, Mrs. David de Sola Pool, Dr. Emanuel Libman, Dr. Israel Wechsler and Dr. Nathan Ratnoff, president of the Physicians’ Committee, who was presented with a bust of himself in honor of his 20 years as president.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.