What surprised me most about Ideas and Opinions was how it showed Einstein as not only a scientific genius, but also as a political activist, a German and a Jew. The book catalogs different speeches, letters, and essays given over by Albert Einstein.
Coming from a German background, Einstein has a mixed view of the United States. He extols the freedom given to all people, but at the same time hates the capitalist culture. He argues that it inculcates a focus on wealth, and eventually lends to an imbalance of wealth. He therefore, later argues for socialism, not only on the national scale, but also on the worldwide scale, with a World Government that would collectively govern the increasingly connected world. He even argues that Judaism is the forbearer of these ideas, with charity and justice being it's main ideal.
While this is certainly one way to look at how the Torah would make a government, it is equally possible that a capitalist society, where each individual believes in charity and justice, would also be a Jewish ideal. It seems the Torah focuses on a mindset of the individuals involved that would create a great society, irrelevant of its structure. Of course, how one reads the verse “Put a king above you” will be relevant here but it is another matter. Einstein furthers his point when talking about what is a Jew. He argues that someone who is not religious is still a Jew, therefore, it cannot be the defining factor. He argues that charity and Justice has always been what we as a people are fighting for in this world and that is what makes a Jew. I feel that this view is equally problematic. A person that is not charitable is still a Jew. So what exactly does make a Jew? I’ve never really been sure, but the closest I have come to answering this question is the idea of a moral and religious tradition. I carry this tradition with me, even if I don't follow it myself. It is not only the commandments, nor charity, but the totality of the tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years.
Maybe its because our names are spelled the same way, but there were many times that I have had exactly the same thoughts as Einstein. Specifically, when talking about the intersection between Science and religion, Einstein has an interesting take. By definition, they should not intersect. Science tells us what is, while Religion tells us what should be. Science tells us how it is possible that we talk, while religion tells us what we should do with our speech. They therefore, compliment each other. We need to know both what is and what should be to have functioning lives. Something Einstein does not mention, however, is when this dichotomy is broken. This most notably happens with the story of creation, where is seems religion is telling us what is. Even here I don't think this is a problem. (If interested, see my views on that here.)
Later he talks a lot about how much Jews owe to Zionism. The ability to create our own state a place were we can show the world the values that Judaism teaches in a full functioning society is ever important. Einstein goes on to explain that a state is even more important because of the anti-Semitism seen in Europe (this was before the Holocaust). He argues that anti-Semitism is born out of a natural hate of seeing someone be better then you. He says that people see Jews performing well (due to caring about intellectuality) and upset they cannot do the same. When they are able to knock the overachievers off the ledge they will do whatever they can to do so. While this concept was certainly interesting, does it hold up? Were we always overachievers in times of anti-Semitism? This is a question for someone with a greater Jewish History background than I.
There are a series of letters between him and the Prussian academy, talking about Einstein’s decision to undo his German citizenship and to leave all the academies. While it is not necessarily courageous to leave all that behind, considering the anti-Semitism that was rampant in the 1930s in Germany, I found it fascinating that as acculturated a Jew Einstein was, he stood by his morals leaving all the academies that he held dear.
A theme that runs throughout the book is Einstein’s belief that people need to be proactive in the world and try to make it a better place. “The world will be destroyed not by those who do evil, but by those that watch them without doing anything” was an idea that he said many times. May we all learn this lesson. (cough...cough...Machal)
The end of the book, is Einstein explaining all of his basic theories, specifically general and special relativity. Considering his immense achievements and his brilliance, I was suppressed to see how humble Einstein consistently was. He was always downplaying his achievements, seeing that there was so much more work to be done. It was amazing to see someone with so much to be haughty for, never succumbing to it.
Next Week: Seinfeld and Philosophy
