The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
This paper concentrates on the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, its famous researchers and success in the field of
Science. The connection between Jewish religion and scientific breakthroughs is
also recognized. I have highlighted the establisher of the
university, Albert Einstein due to his significant role both in the field of
Science and as the influencer of the Jewish Society. The content is linked in
personal interest in Jewish culture and religion as the writer’s field of
study.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is one of
the most famous universities in the world. Many famous researchers, like
Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann, have studied there. 1 Its four
campuses are located across Israel, the head campus in Mount Scopus in East
Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus in Givat Ram in Southern Jerusalem, Robert.
H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment in Rehovot near Tel Aviv,
and the Ein Kerem Campus in the West side of Jerusalem. 2 It was founded
in 1918 and opened in 1925 and there are 23,000 students studying there at
the moment.
In the beginning, in 1913, the 11th World Zionist Organization
decided to establish a university whose main language would be Hebrew
and soon after Balfour Declaration in 1917 the Organization got permission to
start its operations. In 1922 Albert Einstein visited Israel and held the first
lecture of the university and the official opening was held in April 1, 1925.
During the World War II many students joined the British Forces
because the British authorities appreciated the work of the university in fight
against Nazis. In the War of Independence in 1948 Mount
Scopus remained held by Israel surrounded by Jordanian territory. 3
After the War of Independence studies were
resumed. Unfortunately, the use of Mount Scopus was not possible anymore
because of Jordan’s block, so they had to find a new place. In 1954
the construction of Edward J. Safra Campus began at Givat Ram. The
next great milestone was the Six-Day War in June 1967. The Forces of
Israel miraculously beat the surrounding Arab states and the
strategic Mount Scopus ended up in Jewish hands again. Since that the
university has served as the key factor in determining the nature of
Israeli Society and it has been awarded with lots of honors during
the recent and the ongoing century.
The graduates of the university have won 8
Nobel Prizes and one Fields Medal in Mathematics. Four of the prizes were
achieved in Chemistry, two in Physics and two in Economic Sciences. The
laureates are prof. Albert Einstein in 1921 in Physics, prof. Daniel Kahneman
in 2002 in Economic Sciences, prof. Avram Hershko together with prof. Aaron
Ciechanover in Chemistry and prof. David Gross in Physics in 2004, prof. Robert
J. (Yisrael) Aumann in Economical Sciences in 2005, prof. Roger D. Kornberg in
Chemistry in 2006, prof. Ada E. Yonath in Chemistry in 2009, and
prof. Elon Lindenstrass whose prize was the Fields Medal in
Mathematic in 2010. 4
The most famous of all, Einstein, was born and
raised in Germany, where he lived most of his academic years. He was born in
Jewish family in Ulm, in Southern Germany, on March 14th, 1879. The family soon moved to
Munich, where he was raised and got his early education.
Nevertheless, hating the German discipline he left for Swiss Federal
Polytechnic School in Zurich in 1896 where he finished his studies and received
his doctorate in 1905. In 1913 he received a professorship in Berlin and stayed
there till the 1930’s when he was forced to flee to the United States
due to the Nazis’ persecution. 5
Einstein joined the Zionist Movement
in 1919 and became involved in establishing a brand new Jewish
university, which turned later into the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 6 He
was asked to become the president of the World Zionism
Organization and to fundraise for it and the Hebrew
university. On his second trip to Asia, he visited Palestine and gave the first
lecture of the new-born university in 1922, three years before the official
opening ceremony. He also served in many high positions, as the chairman of the
academic committee of the Board of Governors of the university despite living
his life abroad.
The year of 1905 may be described
as annus mirabilis in the life of Einstein. On that year he
published four papers, on photoelectric effects, on Brownian motion, on
electrodynamics and on the mass energy equivalent. Those papers changed the
world of physics and are still highly valued on that field of study. In his
relativity theory he determined that the law of physics is all the same for all
non-accelerating observers, and the speed of light in a vacuum was independent
of the motion of all observers. 7 His findings brought him a Nobel prize in
Physics in 1921. 8
People have tried to explain why Jewish
people have achieved so many prizes in Science. Some explanations are
introduced on the webpage tribeuk.com, such as the David –
Goliath Syndrome, Social Capital, Religion of Knowledge, Survival mechanism,
and being an Outsider. 9 Those underline the Jewish mentality as an independent
and autonomous folk who always have a need to question the prevailing
authorities. As opposed of other religions, Jewish Religion always asks
questions like ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ concentrating on analysis instead of dogma.
Those may be some possible explanations behind their different, out-of-box
thinking.
Conclusion:
Finally, a kind of connection between Jewish
mind and Nobel prizes can be found. The huge amount of prizes amongst
the graduates of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is visibly remarkable even
without comparing to other universities. The establisher of the university has
changed the paradigm in Science of Physics and as such is a one of a kind of
representative of a great Jewish mindset. Jewish history as an outsider of the
society together with the religion of knowledge has enabled the scientific
triumph and is the main reason for such a success. For an ordinary
westerner, there is a lot to learn about the Jewish way of thinking.
1 https://en.huji.ac.il/en/cpage/449
2 https://en.huji.ac.il/en/page/451
3 https://en.huji.ac.il/en/page/452
4 https://nobel.huji.ac.il/indexE.htm
5 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/albert-einstein
6 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-albert-einstein-helpe_b_7978602
7 https://www.space.com/17661-theory-general-relativity.html
8 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1921/summary/#
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