The Elie Wiesel Living Archive

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

Faith

Following in the footsteps of our predecessors: the faith of the Sages, the Rebbes, and our teachers

Apr 13, 2000

In the logical theological conclusion to this series, Professor Wiesel transitions from darkness, struggle, and meaning to the choices of hope or despair, heresy or faith. In discussing what it means for a Jew to have faith today, Professor Wiesel refers to the forthcoming festival of Passover and the disturbing part in the Haggadah where God emphasises that He Himself killed the firstborns. In asking how we can reconcile so many deaths with belief in God, Professor Wiesel teaches us that we cannot invent any new argument, but we can follow in the footsteps of our predecessors: the Talmudic masters, the Hasidic rebbes, and his teacher Saul Lieberman.

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Subthemes:
1) Equivalence of Song and Prayer as Outcry and Protest
2) Indifference of Christian Bystanders in the Holocaust
3) Popes and the Jews
4) Faith in the Concentration Camps
5) Silence of God in the Holocaust
6) Hope vs. Faith
7) Fervor and Joy of Hasidim
8) Faith of the Hasidim
9) Evil of the Twentieth Century
10) Innocent Suffering of Children
11) The Tragedy of the Tenth Plague
12) Singing and Dancing as Prayer
13) The Trial of God
14) Anger vs. Arrogance Towards Heaven
15) Waiting for the Messiah
16) Changes in Christian Attitudes Toward Jews
17) Agony of the Sonderkommandos
18) Faith as Strength
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