{"id":19857,"date":"2016-07-15T00:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=19857"},"modified":"2016-07-19T17:20:19","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T00:20:19","slug":"remembering-elie-wiesel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/07\/15\/remembering-elie-wiesel\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Elie Wiesel …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Robert Krell, left, listens to Prof. Elie Wiesel, as Wiesel addresses the capacity crowd that came to the Orpheum in 2012 to hear him speak\u00a0(photo by Jennifer Houghton).\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong>Elie Wiesel passed away on\u00a0July 2. May his memory be for a blessing.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The following article was originally published on Sept. 21, 2012<\/a>, and initially reposted on July 2, 2016. The photographs were added with its republication in the newspaper and online July 15:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jewish people is based on what is called in the Prophets, \u2018Edim atem l\u2019Hashem<\/em>,\u2019 \u2018You are witnesses to God.\u2019 Says the Talmud something horrible: the Talmud says God says, \u2018If you are my witnesses, I am your God. If not, I am not your God.\u2019… That is the importance of testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was part of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel\u2019s response to a question about the role of March of the Living alumni. \u201cYou are now the witnesses,\u201d he said. \u201cRemember, to be a witness to the witness is as important as to be a witness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Elie Wiesel with friend and fellow survivor Robbie Waisman (photo by Jennifer Houghton)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wiesel was in Vancouver to launch the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign on Monday, Sept. 10. The event, which was held at the Orpheum, featured Wiesel in conversation with his friend, fellow survivor Dr. Robert Krell, as well as a presentation of another of Wiesel\u2019s friends, Robbie Waisman, who accompanied this year\u2019s March of the Living program to Poland and Israel. Participant Jenna Brewer read the account written by Monique de St. Croix of Waisman\u2019s emotional return to his birthplace, after which Waisman himself addressed the nearly 2,700 people in attendance.<\/p>\n

The campaign launch was the culmination of Wiesel\u2019s day here, which included a proclamation from Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson declaring Sept. 10, 2012, Elie Wiesel Day.<\/p>\n

Among Wiesel\u2019s many activities was the receipt of an honorary degree from the University of British Columbia, where he spoke to university administrators, students and Holocaust survivors. A formal academic procession led Wiesel into the hall and a short panel discussion followed his remarks, involving the university\u2019s president, Prof. Stephen Toope, Prof. Richard Menkis, a professor of modern Jewish history, and Barbara Schober, a graduate student. UBC Chancellor Sarah Morgan-Silvester presented Wiesel with the doctorate.<\/p>\n

Also on Wiesel\u2019s itinerary was a morning interview with the\u00a0Jewish Independent<\/em>; one of only two interviews he granted while here, the other being with the\u00a0Vancouver Sun<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"photo
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson declares Sept. 10, 2012, Elie Wiesel Day. (photo by Jennifer Houghton)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As editor Basya Laye and I introduced ourselves, Wiesel admitted his dependence on the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, a copy of which he had not yet picked up that day. Once the \u201cbible of journalism,\u201d according to Wiesel, he lamented the\u00a0Times<\/em>\u2019 decline in quality as the newspaper industry itself has declined. He wasn\u2019t worried about the change to internet media, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur stories are not dominated by concern with the press, it\u2019s person to person,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you relied on the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u2019 background, record in those years, is not the best, during the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiesel recounted how, years ago, he complained to the\u00a0Times<\/em>\u00a0about how little there was in the paper about the Holocaust while it was happening. Subsequently, he was invited to a luncheon, at which he gave them a piece of his mind. As a result, said Wiesel, in the paper\u2019s offices, they have a plaque\/letter saying, \u201cWe failed,\u201d as a reminder to themselves.<\/p>\n

Yet, admission of failure on the world level \u2013 that countries did not do enough to prevent the Holocaust \u2013 has not resulted in the prevention of other attempts at genocide.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan human nature change?\u201d Wiesel said about that fact. \u201cIt\u2019s society. Whatever the issue we have is, for instance, believe me that, I say, a sex story will have the front pages. Not what we try to say, but the sex story will have the front pages. It is our culture. We go with what is easy, what is cheap, and what is accepted as interesting by more people than before. And that goes everywhere, that\u2019s in literature, that\u2019s in the movies. I don\u2019t know where we are heading.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Wiesel has spent most of his life \u2013 as a witness, storyteller and teacher \u2013 trying to ensure that \u201cnever again\u201d is a promise kept.<\/p>\n

Born in Sighet, Romania (which was in Hungary during the war), Wiesel was 15 when he and his family were taken to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister were killed there, his father died in Buchenwald, where Wiesel also was imprisoned when the war ended; his two older sisters survived. Wiesel\u2019s book about his experiences in the camps,\u00a0Night<\/em>, was first published in 1956. It has since been translated into more than 30 languages, with millions of copies being sold.<\/p>\n

A professor at Boston University since 1976, Wiesel was founding chair of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which created the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and, with his wife, Marion, he established the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity soon after he received the Nobel. He has written more than 50 books, and his lengthy resum\u00e9 continues.<\/p>\n

When asked how he would categorize his body of work, Wiesel told the\u00a0Independent<\/em>, \u201cNot enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you like to have been able to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore,\u201d he repeated. \u201cNot enough. Look, look, on the surface, I\u2019ve done a lot, published many books. Many books have been published about me, and so forth. I have approached presidents and kings, but all of that, somehow, it is not enough. Maybe, deep down, all of us who have survived have had a feeling, if we told the story, the world would change, and the world hasn\u2019t changed. Does it mean that we did not tell the story? Or not well enough? Simply, we did not find the words to tell the story? Had we told the story well enough, maybe it would have changed the world? It hasn\u2019t changed the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you feel like you have failed in some measure there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot failed,\u201d Wiesel replied quickly. \u201cI didn\u2019t say fail. Failing, if I had not tried. Look, I know I tried. I still try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complementing his activism for human rights, Wiesel is a dedicated student of Talmud and has a deep appreciation of Chassidic and biblical stories, which the Independent<\/em> referred to as \u201cold\u201d in asking a question about such stories\u2019 relevance today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not only old, they are immortal,\u201d said Wiesel. As to specific lessons we could learn, he added, \u201cIt depends what area. If it\u2019s the Bible, then the eternal truth, or at least the eternal quest for truth. The Talmud, it\u2019s my passion \u2013 I grew up with the Talmud and, to this day, every day, I study \u2013 I love it. I love study.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiesel explained, \u201cThere is so much beauty in all that. There is so much….\u201d He paused. \u201cTruth is a difficult word because my truth may be mine, but not yours, but learning, the quest for truth, is extraordinary. For me to teach those texts is so rewarding, so rewarding. And we take a theme, a talmudic theme or a biblical theme or a prophetic theme, and it can go on, it can last for us for hours and hours and hours in class.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, the beauty of an Isaiah, the tragic sense of a Jeremiah, and the immortal dimension of a Habakkuk. It is all these. They survived. The very fact that they survived, you know, how did they survive? These are texts conceived, written and spoken 3,000\u00a0years ago or so, 2,500, and they survived. What made them survive?\u201d<\/p>\n

The concept of truth came up again when the\u00a0Independent\u00a0<\/em>asked Wiesel\u2019s opinion \u2013 as a former journalist himself \u2013 about how much a newspaper should reflect extremes within the community it serves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave up journalism. Do you know why?\u201d asked Wiesel. \u201cI liked journalism at the beginning; I loved it. It was to be at the nerve centre of history, come on, I loved it. Then I realized, what, two things. Number one, I repeated myself \u2013 which means I changed the names, but the words remained the same.\u201d He paused, then continued, \u201cI am going to spend my life like that? Second, I realized the people that I loved and admired; occasionally, they had such an attitude of fear and respect for the journalist \u2013 I said, I don\u2019t want that, I don\u2019t want to inspire that. That\u2019s when I moved to the academic. I gave up, for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hesitant to give advice, Wiesel eventually said, \u201cYoung lady, your truth is truth. Listen to it. It\u2019s your truth that matters. Don\u2019t accept somebody else\u2019s truth. And, if you are a journalist, if you have the respect for your own words, that will be read by hundreds or thousands of people, who will read it and maybe be influenced by it \u2013 you, just you, don\u2019t listen to [anyone,] not even to your editors. Don\u2019t tell them, don\u2019t even listen to that,\u201d he said, looking at Basya as he made the comment, and laughing. \u201cYou decide. When you publish an article under your byline, it\u2019s yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite having wondered aloud as to the effectiveness of his efforts to change the world, Wiesel still gets up every morning to do just that. \u201cWhat is the alternative?\u201d he asked rhetorically. \u201cWhat is the alternative? There is no alternative. True, I fought many battles and lost. So what? I\u2019ll continue fighting. Look, my life is not a life of success or victory, much more of failures. I tried so many things and failed, you have no idea. Of course, so what? I\u2019ll continue. The only area where I feel I must continue is, first of all, education. Whatever must be done in Jewish life, and in life in general \u2013 not only for Jews \u2013 education must be a priority. Not the only one, but the main priority, education. Let\u2019s surely aim for that. And then, Israel, to me, of course is \u2013 the centrality of Israel in my life is here,\u201d he said, putting his hand over his heart.<\/p>\n

A few moments later in the conversation, Wiesel returned to the topic of journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, as a journalist, my love would be to interview, not for news, [but] to have the interview. And that\u2019s really what I loved about it, to meet people, to have real conversations, I mean, real dialogues \u2013 not questions and answers, because I know now about you more than you think, simply by the questions that you ask. But that\u2019s the journalist in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you obviously have faith in human nature … and you like to know more about people?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do,\u201d he said, with hesitation. \u201cIn spite of. It\u2019s not because of, but in spite of.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Robert Krell, left, listens to Prof. Elie Wiesel, as Wiesel addresses the capacity crowd that came to the Orpheum in 2012 to hear him speak\u00a0(photo by Jennifer Houghton).\u00a0Elie Wiesel passed away on\u00a0July 2. May his memory be for a blessing. The following article was originally published on Sept. 21, 2012, and initially reposted on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3097,53,3649,1959],"class_list":["post-19857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-elie-wiesel","tag-holocaust","tag-jewish-federation","tag-tikkun-olam"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}