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| OHCC LIVING | DECEMBER 2022 | 27 Yiddish Club Get yourselves ready, Yiddish Clubbers, for our Chanukah luncheon extravaganza! Deli food to tantalize your taste buds, and the San Diego Jewish Men's Choir, here again to ignite your Chanukah spirit! Be sure to save the date: Sun., Dec. 18 at 12 noon, in Abravanel Hall. Check your email for future updates. Now, let's talk about the photograph. Is that Albert Einstein, or Don Kent before a haircut? "My child is a regular Einstein! She was able to recite her multiplication tables at the age of seven." How often did we proudly state something like this about our "brilliant" offspring. But who was Albert Einstein? He was probably the most famous Jew of the twentieth century. In humankind's history, possibly no other person had been known for being a genius. Einstein is most known for his "Theory of Relativity," which is still not understood by 90 percent of the population. Einstein's early childhood has been a comfort to parents whose children are not outstanding in school. As a youngster, he was at best an average student, preferring to disregard his studies and follow his personal interests. His mediocrity is probably greatly exaggerated. Einstein's importance in American history has been relegated to the "Theory of Relativity" but, in actuality, a letter he wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 had a greater impact on all our lives. The letter he wrote to President Roosevelt alerted him to the experiment in nuclear fission taking place at Columbia University in New York. He wrote that some recent work done by Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard made him believe that the element uranium would become an important source of energy in the immediate future. He further explained to President Roosevelt that this phenomenal source of energy could lead to the construction of very powerful bombs. It was this letter and Einstein's international reputation which motivated Roosevelt to form the "Manhattan Project," which about five years later produced the first atomic bomb which helped to end World War II. Einstein was aware of his Jewishness and was very aware of the antisemitism which was developing in Germany. When a journalist asked him about international reactions to his scientific findings, the German born Einstein responded: "If my "Theory of Relativity" is proven true, Germany will claim me as a German, and France will proclaim me as a citizen of the world. If it is proven untrue, France will call me a German, and Germany will call me a Jew." Albert Einstein was a Zionist and was an early supporter of the country of Israel. When Chaim Weizman, Israel's first president, died in 1952, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion asked Einstein to become Israel's second president. Einstein was honored but graciously refused the ceremonial position. Even in his later years he preferred working as a scientist rather than as a diplomat. Happy Chanukah to us all! Forward by Elaine Massei; Article by Don Kent

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