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Book Review by Ida Nasatir
Trial and Error by Chaim Weizman
August 1949—Ida Nasatir, book review—Trial
and Error by Chaim Weizmann—Southwestern Jewish Press, page 2:
It is seldom that one man is privileged to span almost the entire existence of a
great world movement as Weizmann has spanned the modern Zionist movement. He
remained the spiritual head of this great movement because he embodied within
himself the healthiest instincts of the people. He crept with the
movement—when it had to creep, walked when it was able to walk, and flew with
it when its wings became strong enough. Of all this he writes in his
autobiography. And of more, too. When he turns the microscope upon himself, Dr.
Weizmann reveals a rather ungracious reluctance to acknowledge the work and
importance of colleagues and competitors. Stephen S. Wise is given but one
sentence, and david Ben Gurion is hardly mentioned. Silver is merely acknoeldged,
and Magnes is not mentioned at all. Brandeis is described as an aloof Puritan,
and even Herzl is remembered as a naive dreamer. However, Weizmann is more
generous to such Jewish personalities as Achad Haam, Baron Edmond de Rothschild,
Louis Lipsky and Felix Warburg. He also readily acknowledges the genuine aid
given to the cause of Zionism by such Gentile friends as Balfour, Lloyd George,
Smuts, Allenby and Woodrow Wilson. The general tone of the book is one of
understatement. Few are the men who can work the major part of their lives on
one objective without becoming narrow minded. This is especially true when
the objective must be pursued against great resistances. Chaim Weizmann escaped
this narrowing process because he had a wonderful safety-valve. This
safety-valve was his chemistry. Wherever he went he found haven in a laboratory.
Here, he came back to the elements—the source of all our being. But strangely
enough, science, which is universal, and impersonal, instead of weaning Weizmann
away from Zionism, gave him a sustaining rationale and a firm context for his
work. Weizmann knew the wrong forms of Zionism long before he realized the right
form. Through his book there appears a caution to all other leaders. It may be
expressed in this Hebrew comment: "Lo zu ha-derekh—This is not the
way." So he said to Herzl, who believed to o much in the power of the
Kaisers and the Sultans; so he said to Zangwill, who believed that any territory
would do; so he said to Brandeis, who believed too much in business enterprise,
and so also, he said to Jabotinsky, who believed too much in the power of the
sword. He felt, that like life itself, Zionism cannot be so much described as
sensed. Some of these aspects of Zionism emerge from the pages of his
autobiography. More fortunate than Moses, Weizmann was privileged to cross the
Jordan and lead his people in their new life as a free and dignified nation. And
we are fortunate in having this autobiographical record. It makes intimate and
moving a part of history, which must in smaller or larger measure, be part of
our own personal histories. It is a book to be read and re-read: it is a basic
work to be used as a whole course of study.