A world without Elie Wiesel...

Source: wsj.com

A world without Elie Wiesel is more insecure, because with his death, this world lost one of his voices of conscience. He dedicated his whole life to remind the world how fine is the line between humanity and raw monstrosity. It is a sad moment whose best answer is to never forget to remember and fight against indifference. 

Many years ago, I visited his hometown Sziget and the memorial house, in a city left without Jews, only with memories and a long history of anti-Semitism. Without him, the recognition of Shoah in Romania would have been impossible, and his efforts for finally revealing the truth were often welcomed there with agressive attacks and raw anti-Semitism. But he succeeded to bring testimonies to life, but in the end, he decided not to return to his Sziget any more, following the decision of the Romanian authorities to support a fierce anti-Semitic politician. 

His speech on the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize awarding, about the dangers of indifference, is one of the many testimonies left for the rest of us.

He gave us the example of survival and a life for truth. We have the obligation to never forget and never give up the fight for truth.

May his memory be a blessing.

BDE 

The parable of the forest, the fire and the prayer

"When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted.

Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." And again the miracle would be accomplished.

Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished.

Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to G-d: "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And it was sufficient.

G-d made man because he loves stories".

Elie Wiesel, Prologue to The Gates of the Forest.

Elie Wiesel on Libya

World should intervene to stop Gaddafi

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Image via Wikipedia/Gilad Shalit needs us

Elie Wiesel Foundation's appeal supporting the freedom for: Gilad Shalit, Liu Xiabo, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtian.

Sign the petition and pass forward!

Elie Wiesel's Thanksgiving Talk

An intervention from 1968 about what we have to be thanksful or not.

First of all, we have to be thankfull for our chances to change something around us. And we do this by small facts or big acts. This is the spirit of תיקון עולם.

WWII mass grave of Jews found in Romania

The mass graves are probably from 1941. Reading the article and other media reports from the last two days I saw many "witnesses" quoted, giving abundant details about what happened then. Now, we are in 2010 and Romania recognized officially its share in the Shoah only in 2003. Where were all these people during this period? Where?

Elie Wiesel: "Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies".

Related articles

• Holocaust-Era Mass Grave Found in Romania (foxnews.com)
• 16 skeletons found in Romanian mass grave (cnn.com)

For Jerusalem - Elie Wiesel

It was inevitable: Jerusalem once again is at the center of political debates and international storms. New and old tensions surface at a disturbing pace. Seventeen times destroyed and seventeen times rebuilt, it is still in the middle of diplomatic confrontations that could lead to armed conflict. Neither Athens nor Rome has aroused that many passions.

For me, the Jew that I am, Jerusalem is above politics. It is mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture-and not a single time in the Koran. Its presence in Jewish history is overwhelming. There is no more moving prayer in Jewish history than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem. To many theologians, it IS Jewish history, to many poets, a source of inspiration. It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city, it is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming. The first song I heard was my mother's lullaby about and for Jerusalem. Its sadness and its joy are part of our collective memory.

Since King David took Jerusalem as his capital, Jews have dwelled inside its walls with only two interruptions; when Roman invaders forbade them access to the city and again, when under Jordanian occupation. Jews, regardless of nationality, were refused entry into the old Jewish quarter to meditate and pray at the Wall, the last vestige of Solomon's temple. It is important to remember: had Jordan not joined Egypt and Syria in the 1967 war against Israel, the old city of Jerusalem would still be Arab. Clearly, while Jews were ready to die for Jerusalem they would not kill for Jerusalem.

Today, for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines. And, contrary to certain media reports, Jews, Christians and Muslims ARE allowed to build their homes anywhere in the city. The anguish over Jerusalem is not about real estate but about memory.

What is the solution? Pressure will not produce a solution. Is there a solution? There must be, there will be. Why tackle the most complex and sensitive problem prematurely? Why not first take steps which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live together in an atmosphere of security. Why not leave the most difficult, the most sensitive issue, for such a time?

Jerusalem must remain the world's Jewish spiritual capital, not a symbol of anguish and bitterness, but a symbol of trust and hope. As the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav said, "Everything in this world has a heart; the heart itself has its own heart."

Jerusalem is the heart of our heart, the soul of our soul.

For Jerusalem was published April 16, as a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, in the form an open letter to President Obama.

Elie Wiesel: Indifference, more dangerous than hate