"How Einstein Divided America’s Jews," an article by Walter Isaacson in the current Atlantic magazine is a curious little piece, inaccurate by what it says and perhaps moreso by what it omits.
The headline is simply untrue (Einstein did not divide America’s Jews) — but it was written by the Atlantic editors and cannot be blamed on Isaacson. Indeed, the article at one point specifically refutes the headline. There was to be sure a sharp division between the European and American Zionists (who did not represent most Jews in either continent). In 1921, when the European Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann came to the US, one of his reasons was to do battle with his American counterparts, led by Louis Brandeis. The other reason for Weizmann’s trip was to raise money to help build the new Hebrew University. When Einstein agreed — reluctantly — to accompany Weizmann it was specifically only to help with the Hebrew University fundraising. He made a conscious effort to avoid the intra-Zionist war.
Isaacson makes this clear when he writes: "Einstein was happy to pay a call on Brandeis, even though Weizmann urged him not to. They hit it off well [and Brandeis later wrote] "Prof. and Mrs. Einstein are simple, lovely folk…they are not in it" [not involved in the Brandeis-Weizmann dispute].
Still, the article suggests that Einstein, by going on the trip with Weizmann, was a major player in the controversy. Whereas, in fact, Einstein went to help raise funds for the Hebrew University which he favored, but not to support the Zionists’ call for a Jewish state — which he opposed.
Isaacson might have quoted Einstein who wrote on March 8 and 9 (before the US trip) "I am not going entirely willingly to America," but only to help raise money for the Hebrew University, adding "I am to play the role of a little tin god and a decoy." And further: "Of course they don’t need me for my abilities but only because of my name [which] they hope will have a fair amount of success with the rich kinsmen of Dollar-land."
But most significantly, Einstein’s disagreement with the Zionists on the need for a Jewish state and other issues — especially their anti-Arab policies — is omitted from this article (as well as from most Einstein biographies).
The article of course is not about that point, but simply about Einstein’s visit to America in 1921. Yet even then the Zionist leaders were quite aware — and nervous — about their differences with Einstein. Kurt Blumenthal, the Zionist leader credited with enlisting Einstein (partway) into the Zionist cause, wrote to Weizmann before the 1921 trip:
"Einstein, as you know, is no Zionist, and I ask you not to try to make him a Zionist or to try to attach him to our organization…. Einstein, who leans to socialism, feels very involved with the cause of Jewish labor and Jewish workers….
"I heard…that you expect Einstein to give speeches. Please be quite careful with that Einstein…often says things out of naivete which are unwelcome by us."
So while it is hard to imagine why the Atlantic editors would create the headline about the fiction that Einstein somehow divided American Jews, it is equally hard to imagine how an article about Einstein’s connection to the Zionists can leave out his major differences.
Given the growing world-wide opposition (including among more and more Jews) to the Israeli government’s apartheid policies and occupation of the West Bank, what a grand contribution an article in The Atlantic and Isaacson could have made had they quoted Einstein’s 1938 comments:
"The essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army and a measure of temporal power….I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain — especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks."
Or his 1955 comment:
"The most important aspect of [Israel’s] policy must be [the] ever-present, manifest desire to institute complete equality for the Arab citizens living in our midst…. The attitude we adopt toward the Arab minority will provide the real test of our moral standards as a people."
Perhaps the time will come when the major media will include such quotes. But, as they say, don’t hold your breath. Meanwhile, websites like this one, fortunately for the rest of us, keep truth alive.
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Other relatively minor inaccuracies in the Atlantic piece include:
– The article states that the ship bringing Weizmann and Einstein to New York in 1921 "pulled up to the battery in Lower Manhattan on the afternoon of April 2." The Rotterdam actually docked at Pier 7 in Hoboken, New Jersey, which meant that 4,000 people had to get to Hoboken (mostly from New York) to greet Einstein.
– The article also states that the intra-Zionist conflict between Weizmann (and the European Zionists) and Brandeis (and the American Zionists) "has been only touched upon in previous books." This might be disputed by Ben Halpern who wrote the thoroughly detailed book, A Clash of Heroes: Brandeis, Weizmann and American Zionism (Oxford University Press, 1987), as well as by several biographers of Brandeis and Weizmann.
Fred Jerome is the author of Einstein on Israel and Zionism, as well as The Einstein File and the co-author of Einstein on Race and Racism. A veteran journalist and science writer, his articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in dozens of publications, including Newsweek and The New York Times.
