Israel’s leaders and press reflected today the Israel people’s deep sorrow at the death yesterday of Dr. Albert Einstein.
The newspapers devoted most of their columns to biographical reviews and to statements by world and Israel leaders in science, culture and government expressing the sense of loss of the peoples of the world. At the Hebrew University all lectures and laboratory classes were suspended for an hour while leading professors eulogized Dr. Einstein.
President Ben Zvi sent condolences to the members of Prof. Einstein’s family on behalf of “the entire Jewish nation.” He referred to Dr. Einstein as a “man who had found new ways toward wisdom and science and to the harnessing of hidden forces, who threw new light on the mysteries of creation.”
Defense Minister David Ben Gurion, speaking at a Mapai central council meeting last night, called Dr. Einstein the “greatest man of our generation and of many generations–the greatest scientist the Jewish nation gave the world.” He asserted that Dr. Einstein belongs to the whole of humanity, “but no less to the Jewish nation and its spirit.” Mr. Ben Gurion expressed sorrow that Prof. Einstein “had not found his spiritual home in Israel, but his heart was always with us.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
