Elie Wiesel

Who was Elie Wiesel? He was a Holocaust survivor, Nobel peace laureate, activist on behalf of the oppressed, a teacher, a writer, and friend of humanity. Born into an observant Jewish family in Sighet, Rumania, he was a God-intoxicated youth who survived the Shoah. As an adult he moved easily among presidents and prime ministers but was equally at home among the poor and disenfranchised. The reflections in this volume come judges in the Elie Wiesel Ethics Essay contest. They share their personal and professional experiences working with and learning from Wiesel and provide a glimpse of the person behind the public figure. At a time when the future looks ominous, these reflections collectively hold out the promise of a more ethical and morally robust future. Their message reflects Wiesel's message about the abiding necessity of friendship; the importance of interrogating without abandoning God; the fact that everyone has a share in remembering--an obligation to remember--the past in order to construct a better future; and the importance of fighting against indifference. If we want to repair the world, we need to repair relations with each other and with ourselves.

""There is some real beauty to be found here in these memories of my father.""
--Elisha Wiesel, Elie Wiesel's son

""Elie Wiesel once said he wrote not to be understood, but to understand. The gift of the Prize in Ethics is that Elie inspired the next generation to do the same . . . In this book lies the opportunity to learn from Elie's dear friends and partners in the Prize in Ethics, who have worked with him tirelessly over the years in promoting his urgent call to humanity to 'think higher and feel deeper.'""
--Dov Seidman, partner to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

""Through the memories of his colleagues and students, we meet an educator who was able to transform the classroom into a sacred space. It is a privilege for those of us who never knew him to be able to enter that space and to experience for ourselves how profoundly Professor Wiesel touched and transformed the lives around him.""
--Theresa Sanders, Georgetown University

""I was moved, and at the same time very happy, to read the contributions to this outstanding volume that keeps alive the memory of one of the finest messengers of humankind, our great teacher Elie Wiesel.""
--Reinhold Boschki, Tubingen University

""This compilation seems the most fitting tribute to a consummate educator whose pedagogy was grounded in story-telling itself. I can think of no better way to honor a man who taught through the stories he told and wrote, than to present this collection--stories of the impact of his life, work, and inspired teaching on individuals and institutions.""
--Elizabeth Anthony, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

""This book reminds us that a great teacher can open minds, ennoble spirits, and--most miraculously--break hearts while filling them with joy and hope. In these pages we hear the gracious, kind, caring, wise voice of Elie Wiesel--teaching, mentoring, uplifting . . . Never has a book been so utterly necessary: at a time of shrill crassness and ethical void, we are reminded of the power of grace, of speaking softly and listening to all--especially to one's students. We are deeply grateful to the editor and contributors for this compelling, extraordinary gift.""
--Nehemia Polen, Hebrew College, Newton Center, Massachusetts

Alan L. Berger occupies the Raddock Family Eminent Scholar Chair for Holocaust Studies and is Professor of Jewish Studies at Florida Atlantic University where he directs the Center for the Study of Values and Violence after Auschwitz. He is the author or editor of nearly twenty books, including Third-Generation Holocaust Re