The Elie Wiesel Living Archive

at The 92nd Street Y, New York. Supported by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

The State of World Jewry 1986

Unifying Through Study and Mutual Respect

Jan 21, 1987

The main concern is not external but internal: Jewish unity and mutual respect. The negative example for such respect is the Talmudic account of Kamtza and bar Kamtza’s hostility. The positive model for such respect are Hillel and Shammai, who disagreed but fraternized. The activity that can bring together Jews of every stripe is study: “the study of our tradition, of the law, of the past. There is so much beauty in our study. It would bring us together. That is a good beginning.” With regard to Israel and the diaspora: those who continue to live in the diaspora should not necessarily feel guilty but rather should feel uneasy. There is only really one center for Jews: Jerusalem, which is and must be the center of Jewish history. A key word in my vocabulary is memory. A Jew is someone who remembers. If we remember, our memory is an opening. If we forget, we become a prison.

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Subthemes:
1) Public Outcries: Speaking Truth to Power
2) Dilemma of Internal Turmoil in the Jewish Community
3) Absence of a Moral defense = Complicity
4) Talmudic Legend of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza
5) Consequences of Communal Disunity
6) Israel and the American Jewish Diaspora
7) Role of Jerusalem in Judaism
8) Survival of the Jewish People
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