About Zionism · Albert Einstein
THE JEWS AND PALESTINE
(1) The Palestine problem, as I see it, is twofold. There is first the business of settling the Jews in the country. This demands external assistance on a large scale; it cannot be successfully accomplished unless the national resources of Jewry are laid under contribution. The second task is that of stimulating private initiative, especially in the commercial and industrial spheres. The deepest impression left on me by Zionist work in Palestine is that of the self-sacrifice of the young men and women workers. Gathered here from all sorts of different environments, they have succeeded, under the influence of a common ideal, in forming themselves into closely-knit communities and in working together on lines of systematic co-operation. I was also most favourably impressed by the spirit of initiative shown in the urban development. There is something here that almost suggests an avalanche. One feels that the work is being borne along on the wings of a strong national sentiment. Nothing else could explain the extraordinarily rapid advance, especially on the sea-coast near Tel-Aviv. At no time did I get the impression that the Arab problem might threaten the development of the Palestine project. I believe rather that, among the working classes especially, Jew and Arab on the whole get on excellently together. The difficulties which are as it were inherent in the situation do not rise above the threshold of consciousness when one is on the spot. The problem of the rehabilitation and sanitation of the country seems incomparably more difficult.
It is a common thing for Jews to miss the significance of the Palestine question: they do not see what it has to do with them. It is indeed easy to ask what it matters to a scattered nation of so many millions whether a million or a million and a half of them are settled in Palestine. But for me the importance of all this Zionist work lies precisely in the effect that it will have on those Jews who will not themselves live in Palestine. We must distinguish in this connection between internal and external effects. The internal effect, in my opinion, will be a healthier Jewry: that is to say, the Jews will acquire that happiness in feeling themselves at one, that sense of being self-sufficient, which a common ideal cannot fail to evoke. This is already evident in the younger generation of our day—not among the young Zionists only—and distinguishes it, greatly to its advantage, from earlier generations, whose endeavours to be absorbed in non-Jewish society produced an almost tragic emptiness. That is the internal effect. The external effect I see in the status which a human group can attain only by collective and productive work. I believe that the existence of a Jewish cultural centre will strengthen the moral and political position of the Jews all over the world, by virtue of the very fact that there will be in existence a kind of embodiment of the interests of the whole Jewish people.
(1927) (2) The Hebrew University in Jerusalem is to be organised in such a way as to meet the existing requirements of the country for scientific research institutes. It cannot be compared in its initial stages with a fully equipped University in the West. It must begin with a number of research institutes devoted to the scientific investigation of the natural conditions of Palestine. The first to be considered will be an Institute of Agriculture, and then probably a Chemical Institute. These Institutes must be in the closest touch with existing and future experimental stations and agricultural schools. The next most urgent need is for an Institute of Microbiology, which on the practical side of its activities will help to fight epidemics in Palestine. Then for one of the early foundations we have to consider an Institute of Oriental Studies, which will have for its province the scientific exploration of the country and its historical monuments, and the philological study of its languages, Hebrew and Arabic, and possibly of other Oriental languages as well. These Institutes will lay the foundation of scientific research work in Palestine. For the present there is less need for actual teaching by professors and lecturers. Indeed, it is positively undesirable to encourage the Jewish population of Palestine, which as yet is very small and can grow but slowly, to repeat the old mistake of one-sided devotion to the professions and intellectual pursuits. On the contrary, the thing to aim at is a normal distribution of the Jewish population among the various occupations. The notorious one-sidedness of the occupational distribution of the Jews in the Diaspora must not be reproduced in Palestine. Only with an increase of the population will there be a gradual extension of the University, and a gradual addition of teaching activities to pure research work.
Due consideration must, however, also be given to the possibility that from the outset Jewish students will be attracted to the Hebrew University from all over the world. To what extent this tendency should be encouraged in the early stages is a problem requiring special consideration. But it is at any rate permissible to hope that in the course of time the Jerusalem University will grow into a centre of Jewish intellectual life, which will be of value not for Jews alone. (1921) (3) A University is a place in which the universality of the human spirit finds self-expression. Science and investigation recognise as their aim the truth and nothing but the truth. It is natural, therefore, that institutions which serve the interests of science should be a factor making for the union of nations and men. Unfortunately, the Universities of Europe to-day are for the most part nurseries of chauvinism and of a blind intolerance of all things foreign to the particular nation or race, of all things bearing the stamp of a different individuality. Under this regime the Jews are the principal sufferers, not only because they are thwarted in their desire for free participation and in their striving for education, but also because most Jews find themselves particularly cramped in this spirit of narrow nationalism. On this occasion of the birth of our University, I should like to express the hope that our University will always be free from this evil, that teachers and students will always preserve the consciousness that they serve their people best when they maintain its union with humanity and with the highest human values.
Jewish nationalism is a necessity to-day, because only through a consolidation of our national life can we eliminate those conflicts from which the Jews suffer at the present time. Let us hope that the time will soon come when this nationalism will have become so thoroughly a matter of course that it will no longer be necessary for us to give it special emphasis. Our affiliation with our past and with the present-day achievements of our people inspires us with assurance and pride in the face of the whole world. But our educational institutions in particular must regard it as one of their noblest tasks to keep our people free from nationalistic obscurantism and aggressive intolerance. Our University is still a modest undertaking. It is quite the correct policy to begin with a number of research institutes, out of which the University will develop naturally and organically. I am convinced that this development will make rapid progress, and that in the course of time this in institution will demonstrate with the greatest clearness the achievements of which the Jewish spirit is capable. A special task devolves upon the University in the spiritual direction and education of the labouring sections of our people in the land. In Palestine it is not our aim to create another people of city-dwellers, leading the same life as in the European cities, and governed by the standards and conceptions of the European bourgeoisie. We aim at creating a people of workers, at creating the Jewish village in the first place, and we desire that the treasures of culture should be accessible to our labouring class, especially since, as we know, Jews in all circumstances place education above all else. In this connection it devolves upon the University to create something unique in order to serve the specific needs of the forms of life developed by our people in Palestine. All of us desire to co-operate in order that the University may accomplish its mission. When the significance of this cause is realised by the Jewish masses, our University will develop speedily into a great spiritual centre, which will evoke the respect of cultured mankind the world over. (1925)
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.