Albert Einstein in Jerusalem. Part I…
The National Archive Library at Hebrew University in Jerusalem holds some wonderful and unique collections for research. I’ve made use of resources there for study on my yichus (genealogy), among other things. (More on my ancestors another time). Perhaps the most inspiring stained glass windows I have encountered in the world occupy a central location there, created by artist Mordechai Ardon.
Many people are not aware that Albert Einstein once turned down the Presidency of the State of Israel, but was very much a Zionist, helped establish Hebrew University, and donated all of his papers and correspondence to the National Library here. (A much better fate than his undonated but repetitively posthumously stolen brain suffered). International attention has been generated lately (Time, Newsweek, etc) because some of his very personal family correspondence, stored here, has been recently released and published.
Wanting to make the most of singular resources, I asked if I could sit and read some selected original Einstein correspondence for a couple hours. I requested folders that I thought might contain more English - letters with Mahatma Gandhi, Upton Sinclair, and Baruch Spinoza.
People have fascination with ‘genius’ in science, nothing remarkable to the genius. But beyond A. Einstein’s scientific prowess and problem-solving, he was regarded for kind-heartedness, reflection, and even poetry. His written expression in correspondence carries color, warmth, clarity, and his concern for humanity in the throes of real trouble.
Einstein’s admiration for Gandhi is reflected well in a contribution made in 1939 for a volume of essays commemorating Gandhi’s 70th birthday, at the request of an Oxford philosopher friend of the latter:
‘A Leader of his People, unsupported by any outward authority: a politician whose success rests not upon craft nor the mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality; a victorious fighter who has always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility, armed with resolve and inflexible consistency, who has devoted all his strength to the uplifting of his people and betterment of their lot; a man who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being, and thus at all times rises superior…’
Gandhi invited him to visit.
In a 1949 response to an Indian Professor of Physics who wrote to Einstein and blamed Gandhi for the plight of murdered Hindus, likening him to Hitler, labelling him an anti-rationalist, and pointing out that one of his assassins was reading and teaching Einstein’s theory of relativity in prison before execution, Einstein wrote:
‘…it is true that Gandhi was to some extent anti-rationalist or at least a man who did not believe in the independent value of knowledge, But the unique greatness of Gandhi lies in his moral fervor and in unparalleled devotion to it. What he achieved in convincing the people of India of his method of non-violence cannot be overestimated. I believe it is by far the greatest achievement in the political field in the last centuries - not only for India but for the whole of humanity…’
An again in 1949 on behalf of his friend, to another critic:
‘…There may be some truth in your criticism of Gandhi’s attitude towards technology. I think, however, that his merits with respect to the liberation of India and the principle of non-violence are so unique that it seems not justified to search for such small weaknesses in such a great personality.’
Einstein was absorbed in problem-solving and the horrible consequences of what governments could do, with little time to read novels as he told his friend, Upton Sinclair. Regarding Gandhi, he told the Thoreau Society in 1953:
‘ …I have never read anything by Thoreau, nor am I acquainted with his life history. There are, and have been, many – but not enough – people of independent moral judgement feeling it their duty to resist evil even if sanctioned … It may well be that Thoreau has in some way influenced Gandhi’s thought. But it should not be forgotten that Gandhi’s development was something resulting from extraordinary intellectual and moral forces in connection with political ingenuity and a unique situation. I think Gandhi would have been Gandhi even without Thoreau and Tolstoy.
Mishleh (Proverbs) tells us that ‘what is desireable in a man is chesed (the kindness that goes outside oneself)’. Even more valued than his own values of rationality, science and technology, the brutality Einstein had seen in the world that could corrupt all of these enabled him to discern true nobility of spirit by contrast. Einstein’s papers, with his thoughts on these matters, are a real treasure. As his opinions were sought out, he wrote prolifically and pointedly, his scientific fame providing a valuable platform from which to do so (and for which he was investigated and persecuted as well)…
© Copyright 2006 Dean Levinson
The National Archive Library at Hebrew University in Jerusalem holds some wonderful and unique collections for research. I’ve made use of resources there for study on my yichus (genealogy), among other things. (More on my ancestors another time). Perhaps the most inspiring stained glass windows I have encountered in the world occupy a central location there, created by artist Mordechai Ardon.
Many people are not aware that Albert Einstein once turned down the Presidency of the State of Israel, but was very much a Zionist, helped establish Hebrew University, and donated all of his papers and correspondence to the National Library here. (A much better fate than his undonated but repetitively posthumously stolen brain suffered). International attention has been generated lately (Time, Newsweek, etc) because some of his very personal family correspondence, stored here, has been recently released and published.
Wanting to make the most of singular resources, I asked if I could sit and read some selected original Einstein correspondence for a couple hours. I requested folders that I thought might contain more English - letters with Mahatma Gandhi, Upton Sinclair, and Baruch Spinoza.
People have fascination with ‘genius’ in science, nothing remarkable to the genius. But beyond A. Einstein’s scientific prowess and problem-solving, he was regarded for kind-heartedness, reflection, and even poetry. His written expression in correspondence carries color, warmth, clarity, and his concern for humanity in the throes of real trouble.
Einstein’s admiration for Gandhi is reflected well in a contribution made in 1939 for a volume of essays commemorating Gandhi’s 70th birthday, at the request of an Oxford philosopher friend of the latter:
‘A Leader of his People, unsupported by any outward authority: a politician whose success rests not upon craft nor the mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality; a victorious fighter who has always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility, armed with resolve and inflexible consistency, who has devoted all his strength to the uplifting of his people and betterment of their lot; a man who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being, and thus at all times rises superior…’
Gandhi invited him to visit.
In a 1949 response to an Indian Professor of Physics who wrote to Einstein and blamed Gandhi for the plight of murdered Hindus, likening him to Hitler, labelling him an anti-rationalist, and pointing out that one of his assassins was reading and teaching Einstein’s theory of relativity in prison before execution, Einstein wrote:
‘…it is true that Gandhi was to some extent anti-rationalist or at least a man who did not believe in the independent value of knowledge, But the unique greatness of Gandhi lies in his moral fervor and in unparalleled devotion to it. What he achieved in convincing the people of India of his method of non-violence cannot be overestimated. I believe it is by far the greatest achievement in the political field in the last centuries - not only for India but for the whole of humanity…’
An again in 1949 on behalf of his friend, to another critic:
‘…There may be some truth in your criticism of Gandhi’s attitude towards technology. I think, however, that his merits with respect to the liberation of India and the principle of non-violence are so unique that it seems not justified to search for such small weaknesses in such a great personality.’
Einstein was absorbed in problem-solving and the horrible consequences of what governments could do, with little time to read novels as he told his friend, Upton Sinclair. Regarding Gandhi, he told the Thoreau Society in 1953:
‘ …I have never read anything by Thoreau, nor am I acquainted with his life history. There are, and have been, many – but not enough – people of independent moral judgement feeling it their duty to resist evil even if sanctioned … It may well be that Thoreau has in some way influenced Gandhi’s thought. But it should not be forgotten that Gandhi’s development was something resulting from extraordinary intellectual and moral forces in connection with political ingenuity and a unique situation. I think Gandhi would have been Gandhi even without Thoreau and Tolstoy.
Mishleh (Proverbs) tells us that ‘what is desireable in a man is chesed (the kindness that goes outside oneself)’. Even more valued than his own values of rationality, science and technology, the brutality Einstein had seen in the world that could corrupt all of these enabled him to discern true nobility of spirit by contrast. Einstein’s papers, with his thoughts on these matters, are a real treasure. As his opinions were sought out, he wrote prolifically and pointedly, his scientific fame providing a valuable platform from which to do so (and for which he was investigated and persecuted as well)…
© Copyright 2006 Dean Levinson
posted by Dov Levinson at 3:35 AM
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