THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, Mich. 48235, VE 8-9364. Subscription $7 a year. Fo'eign $8. Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit; Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager SIDNEY SHMARAK Advertising Manager CHARLOTTE DUBIN City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the ninth day of Av, 5728, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Deut. 1:1-3:22. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 1:1-27. Scriptural Selections for Tisha b'Av, Sunday Pentateuchal portions: Morning, Deut. 4:25-40; afternoon, Exod. 32:1-14, 34:1-10. Prophetical portions: Morning, Jeremiah 8:13 :9:23; afternoon, Isaiah 55:6-56:8. Book of Lamentations will be read Saturday night. Candle lighting, Friday, Aug. 2, 8:32 p.m. VOL. LILL No. 20 Page Four August 2, 1968 Hebrew University's Foundation Stones An important -anniversary was - observed on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem last week. July 24 marked the 50th - year of -the laying of the foundation stones for the Hebrew University, - . and the occasion was , an .event arousing recollections of the trying= tines, during which Jews, while stwggling for their very lives, were dreaming of a university; it was an casion to reconstruct the historic occurrences during which Zionism emerged as one of the world's most significant libertarian causes but was nevertheless handicapped by pledges that meant little unless Jews themselves created the foundation stones for statehood and linked nationhood with the legacy that stemmed from prophecy and learning. • The foUndation stones were laid on Mount Scopus. The university began to function-. seven years later. It was exiled during Israel's War of Independence. Now, after 20 ,ears away from the roots of its founding — al- though in the meantime great offshoots de- veloped not far away in the New City of Jeru- salem—the great school of learning is back where it started. There is a reunion of the Old and the New Cities of Jerusalem—a re-estab- lished link between the initial spot of the university's existence and the expanded cam- pus. In such an atmosphere of reconstruction, the 50th anniversary of the laying of the foun- dation stones was occasioned by celebration and thanksgiving. The anniversary serves to recall the role of Cultural Zionism as an adjunct to Political Zionism. Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who labored for the fulfillment of a dream of a lifetime when 'he presided over the laying of the foun- dation stones as president of the World Zion- ist Organization, had a deep interest also in the Cultural-Spiritual Zionism propagated by the greatest of the Jewish philosophers and essayists, Ahad Ha'Am (Asher Ginsberg). Ahad Ha'Am had missed the foundation stone laying and he took occasion, shortly- there- after to write to Dr. Weizmann, who later was to become the first President of Israel, em- phasizing "the true embodiment of the Jew- ish spirit as expressed in the aims for a He- brew University. Ahad Ha'Am wrote to Dr. Weizmann from London, Aug. 12, 1918: London, 12th August, 1918. My Dear Weizmann, The news about the laying of the foun- dation-stones of the future Hebrew Uni- versity on Mount Scopus unfortunately reached me only after the 'event had al-• ready taken place. Having, by this delay, been deprived of the pleasure of sending you a word of congratulation at the proper moment, I still feel it my duty to express to you — even though post factum — my deep satisfaction and heartfelt joy on the occasion of this historical event. I know, that owing to present conditions, the erec- tion of the building will have to be post- poned, so that for a long time—Heaven knows how long—the laying of the foun- dation-stones will remain an isolated epi- sode without p r a c t i c al consequences: Nevertheless I consider it a great histor- ical event. We Jews have been taught by our history to appreciate the real value of laying foundations for future develop- ments. Our share, of a people, in the build- ing up of the general culture of Humanity has been nothing else than the laying of its foundations long before the super- structures were built upon these founda- tions by other peoples. When in time to come the Hebrew University stands proudly erect on the historic Mountain, equipped with all the ancient and modern instruments for the . . . . . - cultivation, of mind and soul,—what else will be its function but the laying of fowl- :: datiott-Stones, on which our future na- • tio.nal life will be rebuilt? Since-the begin- - ning. of our national movement in con- ,nection with the colonizatiOn of Palestine, we have always felt—many of us uncon- scithisly—that the reconstruction of our national life is possible only upon spirit- ual foundations, and that, therefore, the laying of _those foundations must be taken in hand simultaneously with the coloniza- tion work itself. In the first embryonic period, when the whole work in Palestine was still of very small dimensions and in a very precarious condition, the spiritual effort was concentrated in the then very popular Hebreip School at Jaffa, which was as poor and unstable as was the colo- nization itself. In the following period, the colonization work having been consider- ably enlarOa - and improved, the need for laying spiritual foundations made itself felt more vividly and found its expression in the creation of the "Hebrew Gym- nasium" at Jaffa—an institution incom- parably superior to its predecessor. Now we stand before a new period of our na- tional work in Palestine and soon we may be faced by problems and possibilties of overwhelming magnitude. We do not know what the future has in store for us, but this we do know: that the brighter the prospects for the reestablishment of our national home in Palestine, the more ur- gent is the need for laying the spiritual foundations of that home on a correspond- ing scale, which can only be conceived in the form of a Hebrew University. By this I. mean—and so, I am sure, do you—not a mere imitation of a Eurcipean university with Hebrew as the dominant language, but a university which, from the very beginning, will endeavor to become the true embodiment of the Hebrew Spirit of old and to shake off the mental and moral servitude to which our people has been so long subjected in the Diaspora. Only so can we be justified in our ambitious hopes as to the future universal influence of the "Teaching" that "will go forth out of Zion". AHAD HA'AM. This historic letter now is part of archives that throw light on aspirations that may have seemed hopeless for a time but which became realities, thanks to the determined will of a people whose roots are in an imperishable spirit. Perhaps these aspirations, too, are part of the will to live that has assured the re-emerg- ence of Israel, thereby guaranteeing the inde- structibility of the people's heritage. Seven years after the laying of the founda- tion stones for the Hebrew University, Arthur James Balfour, author of the Balfour Decla- ration, and the heads of leading universities from all parts of the globe joined with Dr. Weizmann in laying the cornerstone of -the Hebrew University which has functioned since 1925, uninterruptedly, in defiance of threats and dangers. Now this university serves Jews and non-Jews, Israelis and Arabs, both on Mount Scopus and in the great com- plex that forms the campus in the hills of Jerusalem that are part of the New City that is flourishing as the capital of the State of Israel. From the Hebrew University, truly, the Hebrew Spirit flourishes as a mark of the con- tinuity—of hemshekh—that is the role of the State and the People of Israel. The annivers- ary just observed re-emphasizes the hopes for all Israel inherent in these roles. Story of Brandeis' Zionism Enriches Movement's Library Zionist history is so replete with dramatic historic events and is so much a major part of the history of the Jewish people of the past 75 years that all addenda to what has already been accumulated for publication continue to serve great -pur- poses, and unending research enriches knowledge about the events that had led to the rebirth of the State of Israel. While much has been written about Su- preme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, all new recollections and collected papers emanating from the Zionist archives in rela- tion to his services retain great value. That is why the new volume, "Justice Louis D. Brandeis: The Zionist Chapter of His Life" by Ezekiel Rabinowitz, published by Philoso- phical Library (15 E. 40, NY16), must be viewed as a work of great merit. Brandeis The author-compiler, a writer-translator who has served on the editorial staff of the Yiddish Day, makes a distinct contribution to Jewish historical research by having gathered the papers that are basic for a knowledge of the role of Mr. Justice Brandeis in tasks for the upbtiilding of Israel. This work contains the important letters Brandeis wrote to prominent statesmen, his exchange of views with Jewish leaders, annotations indicating his attitude on Palestinian matters and on events that affected Jews from the time he began his leadership in Zionism in the second decade of this century until 1933. Reviewing the history of Zionism in the United States before Brandeis, indicating the movement's struggle, Rabinowitz rightfully states, after describ- ing "the low ebb of the Zionist movement" in 1914: "The appearance at this critical period of the attorney Louis Dembitz Brandeis was a real miracle." Many exceedingly interesting aspects of world Jewish develop- ments are reflected in the Rabinowitz book. It commences with refer- ences to the charges of "dual allegiance" and the manner in which they were either counteracted or, at the outset, condoned by some Jews; and there is an explanation how anti-Zionism eventually emerged as non-Zionism in the ranks that were populated by Jacob Schiff, Louis Marshall and others. Then there are the chapters of American involvements, the role of President Woodrow Wilson, the negative views of his Secretary of State Robert Lansing. Louis D. Brandeis, soon to become Supreme Court Justice after a bitter struggle in the Senate, became "the public Zionist leader" whO:( emphasized the lack of conflict between loyal Americanism and activity in efforts to re-establish Jewish nationhood and thereby solve the tragic problem of Jewish homelessness. Giving an account of Brandeis' relationships with Jewish leaders, Rabinowitz lists the activities of Jacob de Haas, who was credited with having interested the noted jurist in Zionism; Judge Julian Mack, David Ben-Gurion, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Chaim Weizmann, Justice Felix Frankfurter, Shmarya Levin and many others. , In a sense, the Rabinowitz book is a major chapter in Zionist history because it takes into account many of the internal Zionist affairs as well as the occurrences on the political fronts and on the international arena during and after World War I. Brandeis' activities prior to the issuance of the Balfour Declaral and his services to the Zionist cause during those trying times, avowed interest that influenced American opinion and subseque. events are recorded in this book. President Wilson's affirmation on Oct. 16, 1917, that he approved of the Balfour Declaration formula is part of the exciting record pro- vided by Rabinowitz. The events that followed similarly are enumerated in this volume. Of special interest is the concluding item which quotes Ben Gurion's revealing information how Brandeis became interested in his plan for Jewish colonization in the Negev and in Eilat and gave him $100,000 for that purpose. Ben-Gurion confirmed this figure and that occurence in a statement to Rabinowitz on July 4, 1965. Thus, in this revealing book about Brandeis, the author provides valuable. Zionist historical data and earns for his compilation of letters, statements and exchanges of views an .important place jn Zionist history, — -