In a speech that was equal parts history lesson and meditation on coping with profound tragedy, Boston University professor Elie Wiesel spoke of a fellow Jewish figure whose “life story contains a warning not to give into distress.”
To an audience of about 300 alumni, students and community members, Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, spoke of Yitzchak Meir Alter, the founder of the Ger dynasty within Hasidic Judaism, in the second lecture of his annual lecture series.
Alter, like Wiesel, was a man deeply affected by tragedy within his family. While Wiesel’s mother, sister and father all died during the Holocaust, Alter lived while most (if not all) of his children died as he devoted himself to education and the Jewish faith.
“Those of you who have studied Hasidism here in this place for more than three decades know that it is supposed to bring joy to the world…it is also supposed to purify exaltation,” Wiesel said. “It is therefore a question which I must address &- is it conceivable that inside the Hasidic movement there should be an extraordinary spiritual community that teaches us that from the very depth of great personal sadness, a moving and powerful appeal is issued for continued faith and renewed joy?”
Today, Ger Hasidism is “among the most pedagogically flourishing and politically influential in Israel &- and also, to a lesser degree, even here in America,” Wiesel said.
Though Hasidism was not without conflict in its early years, by the beginning of the 19th century, it became a flourishing community within Eastern European Judaism.
“It is always difficult to explain Hasidism to those who have not really lived it,” Wiesel said. He told a story about a teacher of Hasidism giving an introduction for a teacher of Kabala before a lecture.
“”He teaches mysticism,'” Wiesel said the Hasidic teacher told the crowd. “”What is mysticism? Nonsense.'”
“That is not Hasidism,” Wiesel said. “It’s not nonsense. It’s a way of life.”
Hasidism, Wiesel said, is about the universality of God.
“God is everywhere,” Wiesel said. “In pain too? Yes, in pain too. Especially in pain, perhaps.”
“God is not indifferent, God is not the enemy &- this was the substance of the Hasidic message,” he added, later saying that Hasidism “was a new way to repeat ancient prayer and discover new roads leading one man to another, to his fellow human being.”
The Rebbe of Ger was known “mainly for his passion for learning,” Wiesel said, “to which he found his total fulfillment.”
“Did it also help him in frequent moments of distress?” Wiesel asked.
Born 1799, the Rebbe of Ger was always a quick learner, he said. One story told (perhaps erroneously) about the Rebbe says that his mother told him he’d get a gold coin if he could name where God was; he responded that he’d give her five gold coins if she would say where God wasn’t.
Later in life, the Rebbe became a prominent member of the Hasidic community, contributing writings and Talmudic arguments that are still known and studied today.
On one educational journey, the Rebbe came back to find his son had died, a pattern that would repeat itself.
“Strangely, each visit to Przysucha resulted in another death of one of his children,” Wiesel said. “How many were there? Some say 11, others say 13, others even say 17.”
Throughout it all, though, the Rebbe turned to education and Hasidism as fortitude against tragedy, Wiesel ultimately argued.
“Our faith will ultimately be a salvation to others, who on similar occasions will be able to say, his…sorrows were greater than ours, and he didn’t complain,” Wiesel said. “Why should we?”
Wiesel presents three lectures annually; this year’s series is set around a theme of “Fascination with Jewish Tales.”
Elaine Kirshenbaum, a member of the BU Board of Trustees, gave the introduction.
“For weeks I thought to myself, “How can I do justice to introducing such an amazing young man?” Kirshenbaum joked of the 82-year-old Nobel Peace Price laureate.
In her introduction, she spoke of Wiesel as a voice for justice and compassion across the globe.
Students and alumni in the audience echoed this assessment of Wiesel.
“I think that Elie Wiesel is just a very charismatic speaker, and he has a lot of insight into things that most of us really only read about in textbooks,” said Hannah Faiguenbaum, a School of Education sophomore, who said she has attended several Wiesel lectures before.
“Elie Wiesel is someone I grow up hearing about &- he’s a very big hero in the Jewish community,” she added.
The final Wiesel lecture, on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m., is called “Ethos and Contemporary Issues: Memories and Reconciliation.” It will be held in Metcalf Hall.
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