There is a vast body of academic literature on Elie Wiesel (1928–2016). Still, Alan Berger, a scholar of Holocaust Studies from Florida Atlantic University, succeeds in making a contribution to the scholarship on the famed author, professor, human rights activist, Shoah survivor, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Berger opts for an intellectual history perspective, introducing Wiesel as, in the words of the book's subtitle, a ‘humanist messenger for peace’. Wiesel's life-long oeuvre is thoroughly presented as a powerful witness for memory, drawing from the thesis that memory is existentially more powerful than history.
Berger's intellectual portrait of Wiesel is, at the same time, deeply theological. Of utmost importance in this respect is the Nobel Prize winner's credo ‘with God or against God, but never without God’ (p. 10). Wiesel's faith, however, is specific as it grows out of questions and nuances, rather than answers and dogmas. Faith, for him, represents a response to doubt; it is ‘a defiant response to chaos’ (p. 12). Wiesel's life and work were motivated by his determination to search for God and God's action in history and the world. While Berger provides a discussion of the various images of God that feature in Wiesel's literary work, the picture of a God who suffers together with humanity and is in need of human redemption is distinguished as central for Wiesel's thought.
The book under review consists of six chapters (Part I), in addition to an Introduction and supplementary items (such as a timeline of Wiesel's life, bibliography, and index of subjects and persons). Of special interest are the documents that comprise Part II of the book and include excerpts from Wiesel's lectures, addresses, and interviews as well as photographic materials. The six chapters explore various themes related to Wiesel's life, work, and thought, such as the dynamics of his personal piety and theology, Jewish identity and memory, (neo)Hasidism, human rights, and Wiesel's endeavours for the sake of world peace.
Possibly of greatest interest for those engaged in the study of interfaith relations and, more generally, in philosophy of religion is chapter 2, where Berger examines Wiesel in the context of Jewish–Christian relations. Wiesel's engagement in interfaith projects was driven by the principle that takes the rootedness in one's tradition (particularity) as a point of departure towards a universal commitment to justice, peace, and reconciliation. As such, authentic (Jewish–Christian) dialogue, for Wiesel, is centred on the mending (tikkun) of both self and the world and always includes God. Furthermore, the principles of integrity, honesty, and openness mark the contours of post-Shoah Jewish–Christian dialogue. Again, the theme of memory is foregrounded as Wiesel considers it to be one of the key requirements of dialogue. Another essential requirement, then, is hope that motivates and energizes all human dialogical efforts. After all, Berger aptly suggests that the project of Jewish–Christian dialogue itself represents ‘a journey of hope against despair’, to cite the chapter's subtitle.
The book would have benefited from a more careful editorial reading as it suffers from grammatical and typological errors and from occasional repetitions. On a more substantial side, Berger seems to use sporadically the term ‘Christian’ to really mean ‘non-Jewish’ (this is especially striking in his reference to Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus on p. 66). In addition, there are some topics introduced in the book that would have deserved further theological discussion. For instance, Wiesel is cited to maintain that Christians believe that humans testify for God through suffering, while Jews say it is through faith (p. 67). Although this is certainly true for some streams of Christianity, this claim should not be accepted without a nuanced qualification.
All in all, however, Alan Berger's Elie Wiesel: Humanist Messenger for Peace should be welcomed as an important contribution to the field. The author's long-standing academic (and personal) interest in Elie Wiesel, his deep knowledge of the subject, perceptive insights, and readable style of writing have yielded a book that will be appreciated by all students of Wiesel, regardless of their discipline and perspective.
