Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and world-renowned Boston University professor, began his annual series of lectures last night at a packed George Sherman Union’s Metcalf Hall, discussing the life and future of the Messiah.
Hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds came to hear “A Portrait of the Messiah,” a topic that follows the lecture series’ theme, the fascination of Jewish tales. Many said they felt a personal connection to Wiesel’s book, Night, and his experience as a Holocaust survivor.
“We are blessed to have him as part of the university, because he expresses universal themes that all can relate to,” Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences professor Karen Jacobs said.
Wiesel examined many aspects of the Messiah and raised questions about him, asking what people have in common with the Messiah, how old he is and where he resides, his occupation and why he has not come yet. While Wiesel did not offer direct answers, he gave insight on how history and other sources explain this phenomenon.
In an interview with the Daily Free Press, Wiesel said he has a “passion for learning, teaching and studies.” He said because “learning is my life,” he is motivated to continue the lectures, which he has delivered for the past 30 years.
“[We] will be expected to continue these lectures for another 30 years,” Steven Katz, director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, said.
The Talmud, a record of rabbinic discussions and a main source of answers for Wiesel, gave some insight as to what the Messiah might look like, but offered no definite description or place of residence. More than his appearance and name, Wiesel said he wishes to convey the message of believing in the Messiah, and the actions toward others and treatment of others will ultimately reveal him.
The experience of waiting for the Messiah was another aspect of Wiesel’s lecture regularly visited.
“Jews can be best defined by his or her waiting,” Wiesel said during his lecture.
Instead of just waiting for what scholars and philosophers believe will happen, Wiesel said he believes “waiting must be creative and imaginative.” According to Wiesel, the Messiah can come at anytime and to anyone, not just to those looked up to religiously in society. Once the Messiah comes, there will be times of “peace, harmony and love . . . end of fear, end of death.”
“Those who speak do not know, and those who know do not speak,” he said.
The end of hard times will bring a purification to man, Wiesel said. Instead of waiting for the Messiah, he asked the audience to not be saints, but to be human.
Wiesel was firm in his belief that no one person can decide or predict when the Messiah comes, and said it is solely dependent on personal beliefs. Wiesel said the only explanation for the atrocities committed in World War II will come through the Messiah’s arrival.
Student Union President Brooke Feldman said at the lecture Wiesel is an “invaluable asset to Boston University.”
“You cannot afford to miss this,” the School of Education and College of Arts and Sciences junior said.