...a beautiful, deeply moving memoir ... A central question of Witness is whether the experience of being a witness can be transferred to another person ... But this complex, multilayered book asks many more questions, such as: What does it mean to be a teacher? What does it mean to be a student? How can you lead a moral life? ... Burger gives us a deeper glimpse through private conversations into Wiesel’s self-doubt and his concern that words fail and understandings are flimsy ... Wiesel’s weariness is haunting, terrifying and timely ... But Burger’s honest depiction of doubt—both Wiesel’s and his own—is a great strength of this memoir, and its constant concern with the limited power of the individual is timeless. While Wiesel privately worried about the power of one person’s words in the face of hatred, this book of questions and memories makes a case for the power of teaching, and for words as perhaps the ultimate teachers of how to live.
Burger, a compassionate heart, fiery soul, and sharp religious mind in his own right, presents a personal side of Wiesel that we normally didn’t see. This is the humane Wiesel, the Wiesel who nurtured students and who shook the foundations to demand more decency in society ... This essential book allows readers to gain a closer look at Elie Wiesel as a scholar, a counselor, and a thinker. We all know Wiesel the Activist who spent his life working for people suffering everywhere to protest injustice and oppression and to bear 'witness,' but there are other more personal dimensions to this story as well. Now we can see Wiesel the Soul. May we continue to be inspired by the life and teachings of Elie Wiesel. We owe Rabbi Dr. Ariel Burger our gratitude for this special opportunity.
Readers who have trouble accepting the Hasidic way of life, and the unending rituals of learning among men of the Hasidic tradition, may find the accounts of Burger’s unrelenting psychological and intellectual struggles a distraction if not at times an unwanted interruption. But he has done a great service in bearing witness himself to the work and life of a great and humble man, who would probably reject the notion that he was a learned master, a legendary philosopher, and perhaps what one might call an intellectual philanthropist ... Wiesel was all this and more. We are lucky to have been in his classroom and to be privy to his memories, thoughts and wisdom through this important and moving memoir.
Structuring his book in sections like 'Memory,' 'Activism,' and 'Witness,' Burger uses snippets of past classroom conversations to illustrate the larger themes; the episodic structure works. Ironically, in highlighting Wiesel the teacher, Burger further elevates Wiesel the humanitarian. Readers will find their own preconceptions called into question, as though they were in class, too.
The author...offers insight into Wiesel's role as a mentor and friend, as Burger struggles to determine his own personal and professional path ... This work demonstrates that Wiesel's effectiveness as a life-changing teacher is a major part of his formidable legacy and presents valuable guidance for teachers seeking methods to approach difficult ethical issues in the classrooms.
Burger transports the reader to those salons of learning on the Charles River, where Wiesel's students over the years ranged from the granddaughter of a Nazi SS officer to a Korean minister in training ... Witness does have a Wednesdays-with-Wiesel feel. Burger intersperses bits of his own life and background as he shares an album's worth of snapshots from Wiesel's time at BU. Burger's tone and execution are exactly what his title promises – and in keeping with the way Wiesel lived his life.
