3 6 4 D O C U M E N T S 3 7 4 , 3 7 5 N O V E M B E R 1 9 2 4
374. To Morris Rothenberg[1]
Berlin, 21 November 1924
Dear Mr. Rothenberg,
May your work for the Keren Hayesod be crowned with
success.[2]
May you
succeed in conveying to that portion of our people living in the United States in-
sight into the grandeur and beauty and also the necessity for the colonization proj-
ect being undertaken in Palestine.
I saw our young people unflaggingly hard at work in Palestine, which with better
provisions and equipment could be made easier and more
productive.[3]
I saw how
those excellent, brave, small colonizers in Deganiah must bear a burden of debt of
which their wealthy brothers could so easily relieve
them.[4]
Their struggle and that
of all the others must be eased. Their bodily well-being must be protected above all
else, for they are sacrificing themselves for the soul and reputation of the entire
Jewish people.
Proof must be produced that we are a people that still has enough will to live and
energy to produce a grand work that will become a unifying center and support for
our descendants. What the temple meant to our ancestors is what this country
should mean to us and our descendants.
I have often seen that once a Jew has begun to feel this fully, he will joyfully
place his powers in the service of the cause. May you succeed in rousing those who
slumber and firing up the awoken.
[Einstein.][5]
375. To Erwin Magnus[1]
Berlin, 22 November 1924
Esteemed Sir,
In the theory of light, or of radiation, two fundamental motives are currently be-
ing employed in physics whose logical linking does not appear to be possible,
namely, the wave theory and the theory of light
quanta.[2]
The latter conception has
points in common with the old Newtonian corpuscular theory. From neither of
these two conceptions has it been possible, up to now, to gain mastery over the en-
tire field. It is natural, though, that systematic minds should perceive this state of
science as intolerable and try repeatedly to form an opinion on the true constitution