Hebrew U. Counts Its Blessings and Looks to New Era

"The Hebrew University of Jeru-
salem is unique because it is work-
ing with a unique people and in a
unique country, and the circum•
stances of that country and of that
people are, too, unique at the
present time."
President Avraham Harman, in
an address to the university's
board of governors, explained:
"I do not believe that in con-
temporary history there is any
parallel for the special accumula-
tion and conjunction of problems
that this country faces. There are
other countries which are devel-
oped. There are other countries
experiencing a population explo-
sion. There are other countries
faced with the problem of fashion-
. ing
the constitution and institutions
of government. There are others
who face problems of defense, al-
though I know of no other country
in our times which faces the prob-
lem of political and physical sur-
vival to the extent that we do.
"But it is not easy to think of
any other country and any other
single group of people which has
these four problems pressing upon
it at the same time.
"Another aspect of our life in
this country which perhaps
Makes us unique—and this has
been constant with us for the
past 20 years—is the place which
education must play in dealing
with these four situations to
which I have referred. For we
have been absorbing disparate
types of immigrants, a great
variety of immigrants, a great
variety of people, languages,
customs and manners, ten.pera.
. ments and approaches, and weld-
ing them together not into a
standardized society —I do not
think we attempt to do this or
regard it as desirable — but

ma Schaver were •among the 36 ment of the Dr. Ruben Kahn Lab-
prominent American Jews who es- oratory at the Hebrew University-
tablished the Truman Center For Hadassah Medical School. This ef-
the Advancement of Peace, which fort was headed by Drs. Abraham
has just been completed on Mt. Becker and Max Lichter.
"And as it faces its future for dm
Through the generosity of Mr.
•
•
•
Scopus and which will be dedi-
balance of the 20th Century, and
and Mrs. Abraham Borman a dor-
Detroiters have made marked cated May 24.
looking into the 21st Century, it contributions towards the develop-
mitory
bearing their name is be-
The Hebrew University Stad-
seems that the Jewish people is ment plans of the Hebrew Univer-
ium of the Givat Ram campus ing erected on Mt. Scopus.
faced by several challenges. The
Mrs.
Emma Schaver and her
was made possible through the
sity. Under the chairmanship of
brother, Alan Lazorof, have pro-
basic challenge is the central quss. Leonard N. Simons a dormitory
generosity of the Charles Gros-
tion which has been posed to us
vided
funds
for a student dormi-
berg Foundation.
was established on the Givat Ram
by the first 70 years of this cen- campus by a group of Detroiters.
The Detroit Physicians Commit- tory now being erected on Mt.
our-
tury, and we are still pitting
Abraham Borman and Mrs. Ern- tee made possible the establish- Scopus.
selves against it: can a people that
went through the Nazi catastrophe
and all that preceded it, survive
spiritually, culturally, and physi-
cally? And ours is a people that
faces different problems of sur-
vival. We who live in Israel are
faced by a physical challenge to
our survival. Those who live in the
free countries are faced by the
problem of the erosion of identity,
unless they choose to do something
We have five a week. By VC 10 all the way. Direct from Detroit
effective about it.
to London, and then a convenient connection on to Tel Aviv.
"As to those who live in the
Soviet Union: their survival is a
Here's our quack and convenient way of getting you from
big question mark. Many Jews
Detroit to Tel Aviv. We'll fly you to London aboard one of our
exclusive VC 10 jets. And in London you connect with
there in recent weeks and months
one of our VC 10 flights on to Tel Aviv. We fly from Detroit to
have opted for migration, and opt-
London daily, connecting at London for Tel Aviv five times a
ed for it publicly in the most diffi-
week. En route, we'll give you more than a taste of what great
cult and dangerous of circum-
British service can be like, and you can stop over in London,
stances. A trickle have come out.
too, for some sightseeing. For reservations, see your
Let us hope that a trickle will con-
Travel Agent or call British Overseas Airways Corporation,
tinue to come out. It would appear,
1239 Washington Blvd., Detroit 48226. Tel. 965-7850.
from all reports reaching us here,
that there has been a resurgence
of Jewish identity and a keen de-
sire for Jewish identification, pre-
the B is for British
cisely among sections of Jewish
youth in the Soviet Union .. .

situation in which the Hebrew
University finds itself today but
this is not the only component
of our situation .. .

"I'd rather fly British toTel Aviv."

'- 1130Ake

"This year is not going to be

easy for Israel and it is not going

to be easy here. Indeed the next
few years may be very difficult
indeed. Let there be no illusion
about that in our minds. The
greatest achievement of this
country in the last three years

MT. SCOPUS CAMPUS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY

rather infusing them with a sense
of unified purpose, of real com-
munity,
"Almost the first act of the
government of Israel in Septem-
ber 1948, at a time when the coun-
try was still living under conditions
of so-called cease fire and had not
yet even attained a state of armi-
stice, was the introduction of a
compulsory system of free primary
education. It speaks a great deal
for the quality or, at any rate, the
aspirations to quality, of this so-
ciety, that in all its preoccupations
in the last 29 years, the govern-
ment of Israel has given its en-
couragement to the growth of high-
er education here in Jerusalem and
elsewhere in our land, and that it
continues to do so at the present
time . .
"In 1969, in the midst of war
the Knesset voted
- and struggle,

to raise the school leaving age
by two years and it now looks
forward to making 12 full years
of education free and compulsory
for all our youth. This is the

A 14 Friday, May 15, 1970

-

—

now able to draw sustenance, en-
couragement and mutual exchange
in all our concerns and problems
from scientific and academic com-
munities throughout the world."

has, it seems to me, been the
growth of a complete awareness
and acceptance on the part of
the vast majority of the people
of Israel and the vast majority
of the youth, of the fact that
there will not be a dramatic
break in the present situation. It
is going to be a long and diffi-
cult period.
"I believe that our university is

very fortunate in being located
in a country whose sense of na-
tional purpose includes, in a cen-
tral position, the values for which
we stand and towards the imple-
mentation of which we seek to as-
pire. We are fortunate in that we
are a university that was created
by the Jewish people and its rep-
resentatives and that we therefore
enjoy the help of the Jewish peo-
ple throughout the world.
"We are fortunate in a third re-
spect: that having, over many
decades, established the academic
leadership of the university, having
established it firmly in the scien-
tific and academic realms, we are

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS