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at The 92nd Street Y, New York. Supported by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Apr 26, 2007
Reading from his forthcoming novel, A Mad Desire to Dance, Professor Wiesel contemplates madness in his writing and in the world today. He reflects upon the tragedy at Virginia Tech, guns in America, anti-Zionism, the British boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a theory that the Holocaust happened because of Reform Judaism. Professor Wiesel emphasizes that all endeavors must have an ethical dimension. Defining ethics as man’s relationship with man and his obligation to the world, he emphasizes his lifelong belief that education shields a person from excessive evil; a belief challenged by the dybbuk’s entrance into history in his own lifetime. According to EW, memory determines the success of education by revealing the scars of history, by intertwining events and by conferring meaning. The enemy of culture and memory is fanaticism, which must be combated by both education and memory. Professor Wiesel teaches us that Hasidism delivered an ethical message that in helping others, you cure yourselves.
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