August 30, 1957 Friday morning

“I returned to Jerusalem today & found mail from you dated August 13 & August 22. The mail you wrote in between they must have misplaced.”
When my father returned to Jerusalem after touring for nine days, he had expected to receive more than two letters, since he had written his family almost everyday.
This shows my father’s respect for his parents – that he did not want to make them feel bad for possibly not having written as much as he did. He also apologized for the shortness of his letter.

“I am going now to visit the Hebrew University.”
The Hebrew University (HU) which my father is referring to, was the HU campus being built in Givat Ram, west Jerusalem.

The original HU campus was opened on Mt. Scopus in East Jerusalem in 1925. It was in use by Jews until April of 1948, when members of the Jordanian Arab Legion massacred 79 Jews on a convoy to Mt. Scopus. The Jordanians took control of all East Jerusalem, including HU Mt. Scopus and denied access to all Israelis and Jews.
As a result HU was forced to build a new campus in Givat Ram, West Jerusalem.

It was in construction in 1957 when my father visited and later opened in 1958.

Following the Six-Day War of 1967, the original campus in Mt. Scopus returned to the control of Israel. Today both campuses are in use.