Albert Einstein Went to the United States in 1921

Albert Einstein went to the United States in 1921. At the time, he attained a reputation because the validity in his theory of relativity had been verified. The New York Times reported his success hugely, so he was received warmly when he arrived in New York. However, papers published in 1921 shows a less joyful aspect of his visit. He was involved in the battle between ardent European Zionists led by Chaim Weizmann accompanying Einstein and American Jewry, including Louis D. Brandeis, Felix Franker, and the some people working for Wall Street banking firms. Also, the argument about Zionism caused that Einstein was not invited to a lecture in Harvard University and the number of the participants in the discussion on the establishment of a university in Jerusalem declined. People can know these situations clearly in his visit by some books and papers.

He was proud that he was born as a Jew though Einstein grew in a secular German-Jewish family and he disregarded religious faith and rituals. In his letter, he wrote that he was born as a Jew, but he did not believe the faith of Judaism very much. Although many German who were anti-Semitism encouraged that Einstein assimilated to Christianity, he identified himself with his Jewish heritage. At the time, he realized that it is important for Jewish people to return to their homeland in Palestine. In 1919, Kurt Blumenfield, who was a pioneering Zionist leader, explained the importance of establishing a university in Jerusalem to Einstein. Some people help to make money, but most of them failed. After that, Weizmann invited Einstein to accompany him on the trip to the United States. Although Einstein had hesitation, he decided to go there with Weizmann.

On April 2, they arrived at the United States. Jewish people in Manhattan gave him an enthusiastic welcome. However, the Zionist Organization of America did not attend a welcome ceremony. The leader of the Zionist Organization of America, Louis D. Brandeis and Weizmann had feud. When Brandeis went on a trip for Palestine with Weizmann, they found that their policy was different. Brandeis wanted more power from Weizmann to manage the authorization, but Weizmann was not willing to do that. The environments they were born and raised were different. Weizmann was born in Russia and moved to England; on the other hand, Brandeis was born in the United States and graduated from Harvard law school. After that, he became the first Jewish justice on the Supreme Court. They grew in the different cultures.

Brandeis was happy that Einstein came to the U.S. though Weizmann accompanied him. However, his surroundings made the situation worse. Two of Brandeis's closest associates insisted that Einstein should have lectures of physics rather than raise money for Palestine. They knew that Einstein extracted a lot of money from universities to have those lectures. They thought that would hurt his image and that of Jews. Harvard University declined to have Einstein's lecture, but they wanted Einstein to come to Harvard without formal lectures. They asked Weizmann to give Einstein's lectures for free when Einstein knew these situations, he got angry. Brandeis and the two closest associates excused themselves. They said that they wanted to protect Einstein