5 Important Essays on Elie Wiesel’s Legacy
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By Ari Feldman July 7, 2016
Last week the world lost Elie Wiesel, a powerful voice of the Holocaust experience and a man honored by many as one of the world’s moral authorities. At the same time, towards the end of his life Wiesel drew criticism for his refusal to condemn Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza.
The meaning of his legacy has been debated vigorously this past week by those who knew him, those who learned from him, and those who read his books.
Here are five of the best essays from around the internet on the legacy of Elie Wiesel.
1. “For Wiesel, loving Jerusalem superseded loving in Jerusalem.”
2. “Wiesel had the ability to write his experience in a way that did not turn me into a voyeur and somehow made the incomprehensible accessible.”
Jewish writers speak on Wiesel’s literary legacy, and his impact on their work in Haaretz.
3. “But if Wiesel could not teach God, he could do the next best thing. He could teach Oprah.”
4. “Wiesel seemed to view these other victimized groups as competitors in an oppression Olympics, fretting that widespread recognition of the atrocities they suffered would sap his own moral power.”
5. “I also accuse the Jewish world and its leaders for not warning us, at least about the danger awaiting us in ambush so that we’d seek rescue routes.”
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman
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