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Elie Wiesel
Teacher, Mentor, and Friend
Edited by Alan L. Berger
Foreword by Irving Greenberg
Afterword by Carol Rittner
Imprint: Cascade Books
Elie Wiesel, plucked from the ashes of the Holocaust, became a Nobel Peace laureate, an activist on behalf of the oppressed, a teacher, an award-winning novelist, and a renowned humanist. He moved easily among world leaders but was equally at home among the disenfranchised. Following his Nobel Prize, Wiesel established the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; one of their early initiatives was the founding of the Elie Wiesel Ethics Essay Contest.
The reflections in this volume come from judges of the contest. They share their personal and professional experiences working with and learning from Wiesel, providing a glimpse of the person behind the public figure. At a time when the future seems ominous and chaotic at best, these reflections hold on to the promise of an ethically and morally robust possibility. The students whose essays prompt this sense of hope are remarkable for their insight and dedication.
The messages embedded in the judges' reflections mirror Wiesel's convictions about the importance of friendship, the need to interrogate (without abandoning) God, and the power of remembrance in order to fight indifference.
Alan L. Berger is the Raddock Family Eminent Scholar Chair for Holocaust Studies and Professor of Jewish Studies at Florida Atlantic University where he directs the Center for the Study of Value and Violence after Auschwitz. He is the author or editor of sixteen books, including Second Generational Voices with his wife Naomi and co-author of Third-Generation Holocaust Representation (2017), Post-Holocaust-Jewish-Christian Dialogue (editor, 2015), and Trialogue and Terror (Cascade, 2012). He holds a Doctor of Letters. Honoris Causa from Luther College.
“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, Tübingen 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
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