Albert Einstein on the "Bumpy" Creation and Beautiful "Dream" of the Hebrew University

At the heart of a Jewish homeland, Einstein thought, there would be a university: a place where knowledge for knowledge’s sake could be pursued, and justice sought, and personal independence encouraged and respected. These were, he felt, the motivating traditions of the Jewish people – a gift of destiny, he called it. A Hebrew University, administered for Jews by Jews, would mean that Jews could for once study without hindrance, free of discrimination and quotas. The establishment of such a “moral center” was, for Einstein, a necessity. In this letter to the British mathematician Selig Brodetsky - who would, in twenty years, become the University’s president – Einstein affirms that when it comes to the University, he is like a wild man…
 
It is particularly dear of you that you were not alienated by my stubborn behavior in regard to the University matter. With the eloquent Jewish brothers, I face the situation like a wild man, who can only explain himself convincingly with gestures... Even if I will never see the day… I will not stop taking the Jerusalem University matter closely to heart… At the same time, I think that your and [Chaim] Weizmann’s more conciliatory demeanor may be the right one… The main thing is that everything that is being done has the sole purpose to serve the University; therefore I hope that even this bumpy way will reach a beautiful end.
 
When Einstein visited the site on which the university was to arise, he was invited to speak from “the lectern that has waited for you for two thousand years.”

Autograph Letter Signed (“A. Einstein”), in German, 1 page, quarto, on his personal letterhead, Haberlandstr. 5, Berlin, April 8, 1929. To Selig Brodetsky.