Leonard Bernstein
Following the ceremony in 1918 at which he laid the cornerstone for the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, Dr. Chaim Weizmann described the festivities in a letter to his wife Vera. "It was held in a marvelous place," he wrote " . . . from which one could see almost the whole of Palestine. There was the Dead Sea and the mountains of Judah, Ephraim and Moab looking as if they were amazed at what was taking place."
No doubt it was this spectacular view that inspired Weizmann's choice of Mount Scopus as the venue for a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. Officially inaugurated in 1925, the lovely new campus became off-limits to Israelis during the 1947-1948 War of Independence.
On July 7, 1948, Israel and Jordan signed an agreement that kept Mount Scopus part of the Jewish state but placed it in a demilitarized zone, thus effectively closing down the university. The university reopened only after Jordan was defeated in the Six Day War of 1967, and Jerusalem - divided for 19 years - was reunited.
The idea of a Hebrew University in the Land of Israel was first proposed in the early 1880's by Professor Hermann Zvi Shapira, a Heidelberg mathematician who also initiated the concept of buying land in Israel for Jewish settlement. He thought the language of instruction should be German and suggested the university be located outside of Jerusalem to prevent objections by religious extremists.
A detailed plan for a school of higher Jewish learning was published by three leading Zionists in 1902. Eleven years later a committee was set up to prepare the groundwork for the university, and the decision was made to establish it in the Holy City.
Before World War 1 drew to a close, negotiations were finalized for the Jewish National Fund to purchase land on the heights of Mount Scopus. Ground was broken for the new university on July 24, 1918; Dr. Weizmann and other dignitaries laid 12 cornerstones, representing the Israelite tribes, on the spot where the amphitheater overlooks the Judean Desert today.
It took another seven years, but on April 1, 1925, in an impressive ceremony held at exactly the same site, the Hebrew University was officially declared open. Among the dignitaries at the ceremony were British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour, famous Hebrew author Chaim Nahman Bialik, High Commissioner Herbert Samuel, the Sephardic and Ashkenazi chief rabbis, and Norman Bentwich, scion of a British Zionist family.
One of the most beautiful sights at the university is the historic Roman-style amphitheater, located on the site from which Chaim Weizmann so greatly enjoyed the view in 1918. Built especially for the inauguration ceremony, the amphitheater was partially destroyed during the War of Independence and restored after the Six Day War.
It was here that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, then Commander in Chief of the Israel Defense Forces, received an honorary doctorate immediately following the Six Day War. Here Leonard Bernstein conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert celebrating the reunification of the Holy City of Jerusalem.
Aviva Bar-Am is the author of 7 full color,unique guides to Israel, and travel correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. Her husband, tour guide and professional photographer Shmuel Bar-Am, took all of the books' fabulous photos. Together they are Israel Travels, a husband and wife team providing customized tours and personalized service. For more information about Aviva's books and guided tours, see http://www.israeltravels.com
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