Conference taveng::bagels

978.0. "Albert Einstein and Judah Magnes" by RTL::CMURRAY (Chuck Murray) Sun Sep 16 1990 20:19

I'm reading "Einstein: The Life and Times" by Ronald W. Clark. Albert
Einstein evidently had a bitter feud with Judah Magnes over the latter's
actions as Chancellor of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem between 1925
and around 1934/35. The intensity of Einstein's feeling is clear, but I never 
did get a clear idea of what was really behind the feud, other than apparent
differences in personality and "management style." (Clark characterizes
Magnes as "the virtual ruler of the university who exercised his power
in line with the U.S. interests which had so largely financed it" and
indicates Einstein's demands for Magnes' removal were thwarted by fears
of offending wealthy American Jewish contributors.)  Apparently around
1935 Magnes went out of the picture, but I either missed or the book didn't
say what happened to him (resigned? fired? died?).

I was curious, though, whether this feud was simply a matter of conflicting
personalities or "styles," or whether it was based on some differences 
between the two men over the philosophy or direction of the Zionist movement.
I'm also curious whether Magnes was really such a "bad guy": does anyone
have a pro-Magnes or "neutral" assessment of the feud?

(I'm not to the end of the book, but there are no remaining index entries
for Magnes, so I thought I'd ask now before I forgot.)