Between Cosmopolitanism And National Sentiments:Albert Einstein And The Zionist Movement

Born to a highly assimilated Jewish family in Germany,Einstein,as most assimilated German Jews,had no clear sense of Jewish identity in his early years.Einstein’s family did not pay special attention to the Jewish tradition,however,inherited the Jewish education mode that attaches importance to the cultivation of the critical spirit of personality,which made Einstein develop the character of loving independent thinking and pursuing freedom of thought.From passionate belief in Judaism to abandoning blind enthusiasm,he built up a psychological element of bold skepticism and resistance to authority.In addition,Einstein formed his own social and political thought at an early age,he has a deep identification with cosmopolitanism and humanism,antipathy to nationalism.In the process of education and experience,Einstein’s Jewish consciousness,which was not easy to be perceived by himself,gradually appeared.It was driven not by anything else but the hatred and prejudice against Jews.It can be said that he was in a non-Jewish environment when he was young,which brought him unforgettable memories and foreshadowed his later turning of mind.Because of his Jewish identity,Einstein’s family had been treated unfairly,and he encountered various setbacks in the job hunting process after graduating from college.The rejection of Jews by anti-Semites was unacceptable to humanists like him.After arriving in Prague as a professor in 1912.he became aware of the Jewish problem and came into contact with the Zionists,but at that time he saw them only as loose factions of independent scholars.After getting into Berlin university in 1914,Einstein realized more deeply the humble situation of Jews in Germany.The young Jews in eastern Europe could not study owing to anti-Semitism,which made him more painful and inspired his Jewish national feelings.For the first time in his life,he was clearly aware of his Jewish identity.Einstein showed no immediate interest in Zionism after establishing a sense of Jewish identity.As a result of the confirmation of the theory of relativity,Einstein quickly became a world famous person and the target of anti-Semitic attacks.Einstein had high expectations for the moral conscience of intellectuals,and also attached great importance to the role of intellectuals in the generation and dissemination of antisemitism.Therefore,the stubborn prejudice of intellectuals made him find it difficult to eliminate social anti-Semitism.In this way,he realized that the Jews take the initiative to assimilate into the mainstream of society can’t be the way to solve the Jewish problem,so in Germany Zionists Karl Blumenfeld’s persuasion and guidance,he began to turn to Zionism,and soon has a strong interest in the establishment of Hebrew University launched by the Zionists.In fact.Einstein did not preserve the Jewish nation or any other nation for its own purposes,but simply regarded the existence of the nation as a fact of existence.In his eyes,if Jews want to coexist with other peoples and achieve normalization,they must launch a Zionist movement.Zionism was not a narrow nationalism,but served to restore the dignity of the Jews,and the building of the Jewish Palestine was just for this purpose.Einstein’s belief in cosmopolitanism was accompanied by a strong sense of identity with his own people.After approaching Zionism ideologically.Einstein soon had a direct relationship with the movement.In 1921.Einstein visited the United States with Zionist leaders to raise money for Jewish settlements in Palestine,especially for the Hebrew University.For Einstein,a pacifist and internationalist who lived through the first world war,the visit was also intended to promote reconciliation between nations.The trip to the United States was not a success because of tensions between Zionist groups in Europe and the United States over the leadership of the movement.The visit to the United States left a deep impression on Einstein.He could not forget the support of some groups and individuals for Zionism.The enthusiasm of New York Jews made him feel the existence of "Jewish nation" for the first time in his life.Tired as he was concerning the contradictions between Zionist leaders,he did not prevent himself from making optimistic judgments about the prospects of the Zionist movement,and his feelings towards Zionism deepened.Soon after his visit to the United States,Einstein took part in an another event organized by Zionist leaders,making a field trip to the Zionist homeland of Palestine in 1923.Under the arrangement of Zionists,Einstein had a dense schedule,visiting Jerusalem,Tel-Aviv,Haifa and other important cities in succession,and visiting the collective farm kibbutz built by Jews.The highlight of the trip to Palestine was a speech on Mount Scopus,home to the Hebrew University.Einstein was impressed by his relatively short stay in Palestine,where he particularly admired the courage of Jewish workers and farmers to build a new home under difficult conditions.For the future of Palestine,Einstein placed the highest value on its cultural significance and believed that it should be built into a cultural and spiritual center for the Jewish people all over the world rather than a Jewish state in the political sense.Among the Zionist movements in which Einstein participated,his greatest concern and effort was in supporting the construction of the Hebrew University.Einstein had a high expectation for the role of the Hebrew University that it should become a Jewish Pantheon in scientific research,personnel training and other aspects.For this reason,he had a lot of interference in the administrative management,scientific establishment and talent selection of Hebrew University,during which he had a fierce conflict with Judah Magnes,President of Hebrew University.The differences between Einstein and Magnes was that the latter held that the university should follow the wishes of American donors in matters such as professorship,while Einstein wanted the Hebrew University to operate more like a European university,giving departments enough power over professorship and curriculum.Einstein argued that boards and academic committees had more power.Magnes.however,has ostracized these institutions and taken matters into his own hands.Despite these contradictions,Einstein was always concerned with supporting the administrative and academic affairs of the Hebrew University.In Einstein’s later years,his viewpoints of the conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Jews could clearly reflected his basic observations of the Zionist movement.Einstein was a passionate advocate of the bi-national idea,arguing that Palestine should not be dominated or controlled by Arabs or Jews alone,and that the conflict between Arabs and Jews stemmed largely from psychological factors,namely,mutual distrust that made reconciliation difficult.Einstein’s vision for the settlement of the Arab-Jewish conflict is based on the need for honest dialogue between the two sides,the establishment of an authoritative and effective consultation mechanism,and the rejection of interference by major powers so as to achieve national reconciliation.In Einstein’s opinion,Jewish immigration and construction in Palestine are their legitimate rights,cannot be termed as narrow nationalism.He condemned the attacks against Jews by Arab mobs and the destruction by Jewish terrorists.From the bi-national idea to accepting Israel,Einstein has experienced from moderate paci fist to combat the pacifist thoughts of change.Having realized the peaceful coexistence is impossible,he gave up the idea against political Jewish state which he has advocated.turn the building of the Jewish state,turning to accept Israel,and put forward Suggestions for domestic and foreign policies of Israel.After the creation of the state of Israel.Einstein called for tolerance of Arabs living in the country.