“Welcome to our graduation: I’m from Malawi”.
“Welcome, I’m from Ghana… I’m from Uganda…”
A group of fresh-faced postgraduates throw their mortar boards in the air as they celebrate their degrees, just some of the thousands of young people who are part of the incredible institution that is the Hebrew University.
HUJI, to give it its short form, is this year marking its centenary, the oldest university in Israel, which formally opened its doors in 1925 with a glamorous gathering of academics and political figures from around the world. Its opening ceremony took place on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, more than two decades before the state of Israel was declared, and while the region was still under the authority of the British Mandate.
So the concept of the Hebrew University was ambitious and visionary, says the chair of its British Friends, Alan Jacobs. “It was the vision of some amazing people — and I am always astonished at the fact that a century ago, people were really thinking about establishing a university, and all that entailed.”
Jacobs adds: “Obviously, there has been a huge British connection over the years. A lot of the big, wealthy British families — over several generations — have supported it. And when you look at some of the darkness that surrounds Israel these days, I think universities represent all that is good about the country. They represent opportunity, and it is still true today.”
Lord Balfour at the opening of the Hebrew University
One hundred years ago, on April 1 1925, the Hebrew University was established. On a simple wooden stage, without a microphone or amplification, speeches were delivered by Dr Chaim Weizmann, who would later become Israel’s first president, the Chief Rabbi of Palestine, Abraham Isaac Kook, the former British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour, the British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel and poet Chaim Nachman Bialik.
Among the thousands in attendance were residents of the land of Israel and international guests, including leaders, clergy and British military ,as well as government representatives and academic delegations from the UK, Ireland, United States, Netherlands, Egypt, Switzerland, France, Canada, Poland and Austria.
Mount Scopus campus, main entrance
Notable attendees included Zionist leaders such as Meir Dizengoff, Judah Leib Magnes, Norman Bentwich, Nahum Sokolow and many others. Today they are sometimes only recognised as street signs, but in their day they were the Palestinian Mandate version of Hollywood: intellectual heavy hitters, who were united in their belief that the state they hoped would come into being would need the heft of a strong academic institution.
Now, as HUJI embarks on its second century, the vision of its founders has been profoundly realised, as it has become a pioneering academic institution that has significantly shaped Israel’s intellectual, scientific and cultural landscape.
HUJI has become a hub for ground-breaking research, producing leaders in a wide variety of fields and fostering global academic collaborations. It continues to excel in innovation, diversity and industry partnerships, grounded in its commitment to education, scientific advancement and societal impact.
Aerial view of Mount Scopus
Alan Jacobs notes that “societal impact” plays a big part in the university’s view of itself as an independent institute of higher learning. “If you want to be respected, you have to call out issues where they deserve to be called out, in a way that recognises the relationship with the government but is not subservient to it. That is what the Hebrew University and other Israeli universities have tried to do, particularly true in the issue of judicial reform.” The university’s prestigious Law School, he says, was “quite vociferous” in defending the institutions that underpin the democratic state.
But let us return to the founding fathers of the University, among whom was the pioneering scientist Albert Einstein. Einstein, who was unable to attend the glittering opening ceremony in April 1925, because he was committed to a series of lectures in South Africa.
Instead, Einstein sent a handwritten manuscript of his General Theory of Relativity to the university as a token of his appreciation for the realisation of his vision. This manuscript has been preserved ever since in the Einstein archives, located at the Safra Campus in Givat Ram.
Even before the university opened its doors, Einstein told the New York Times in a 1921 interview: “There has been no event in my life that gave me greater satisfaction than the initiative to establish the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.”
Portrait of Prof Albert Einstein by Orren Jack Turner
The link between Einstein and the university still flourishes today. Attentive viewers of British TV commercials for electric smart meters can see a brief credit to HUJI for the use of Einstein’s image.
The Hebrew University’s first board of governors, which convened shortly after the formal opening ceremony, included illustrious names such as Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, James de Rothschild, Harry Sacher and many more.
A glance at the full list of board members reveals that about a third were British, highlighting the profound connection between Britain’s Jewish community, the Zionist movement and the establishment of the university.
One thing is sure: neither Einstein nor his fellow founders (all men, naturally) had any idea what their idea would grow into. Apart from the fact that the Hebrew University ranks 81st in the Shanghai university rankings (that is, in the top ½ percent in the world), it boasts seven Nobel prize-winners, plus Einstein, one of whom, Robert Aumann, is still at the university as an emeritus professor.
The university now operates on six campuses. Three are in Jerusalem — Mount Scopus, where it all began, Givat Ram, and the Hadassah/Ein Kerem complex, where the university’s faculty of medicine is located. Then there are campuses in Rehovot, Rishon le Zion where the veterinary school is based, and Eilat, where marine studies are shared with other Israeli universities. The multi-campus situation is a legacy of the wars between Israel and its neighbours, beginning in 1948 when Mount Scopus was essentially cut off from the rest of Jerusalem. The Jordanian government of the day denied Israel access to Scopus and so a new campus was built at Givat Ram, in the west of the city, completed in 1958. After the 1967 Six Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, the Mount Scopus campus was reclaimed and a decision taken to rebuild it.
Today, across the campuses, there are a startling number of students: around 23,500, about half of whom are undergraduates while the rest are post-grads, doctoral students and international students, such as the cheerful group from various African countries studying at the Agriculture faculty.
There are seven main faculties: law, social science, humanities, science and computer science, medicine, dentistry, agriculture (which includes environment, nutrition, veterinary science, and a veterinary teaching hospital), plus two more recent schools teaching social work, social welfare, and business management.
2022 graduation ceremony
The entire student body is both gender and ethnically mixed, ranging from Israeli Jews, including strictly Orthodox students who make up about 15 per cent of the student population, to Israeli Arabs, Druze and Christians. Anecdotally, the university believes that in vocational courses such as nursing, pharmacy, education and social work, the Arab student population can be as high as 40 per cent enrolment,
In its most recently published accounts, the British Friends raised an astonishing £7.7 million for the years 2022-23. “We are definitely punching above our weight,” says Jacobs. “The British Friends of the Hebrew University (BFHU) has been building on the enormous contribution that Britain made towards the establishment of the university for nearly a century. Founded as a UK-based charity in 1926, its mission in raising funds was to strengthen the bond between the United Kingdom and what was then Mandate Palestine. Today, these connections remain stronger than ever, upheld by the generosity of countless families, individuals, and trusts—many of them descendants of the earliest supporters—who continue their dedication to the university and the Zionist vision.”
Chaim Weizmann speaks at opening of the Hebrew University
A productive and dynamic relationship exists between the university’s pioneering research and entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders, facilitated by Yissum, the university’s technology transfer company. To date, Yissum has registered over 260 startup companies based on technologies developed at the Hebrew University, 18 of which have gone public, including Mobileye.
Alan Jacobs believes in “a critical mass of genders” and as a member of the search committee for the successor to outgoing president Asher Cohen, would love the next president of the Hebrew University to be a female academic.
Whoever takes the helm, one thing is sure: the vision that has sustained the university for the past 100 years will continue. Faculty and students will continue to develop ground-breaking ideas aimed at strengthening Israeli society and the Jewish world at large.
