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Teacher

Learning Alongside His Students

Literary Craftsman Previous Speaking Out for Persecuted People Next

  • ELIE WIESEL: Learning carries its own reward.

    SHEILA JOHNSON ROBBINS: He was a teacher. I think that's the role that he wanted to be remembered by, as a teacher, a wordsmith, a person that stuck to what his responsibilities were.

    MARTHA HAUPTMAN: He wanted to learn along with the students and he wanted to learn from students.
    The classes were on all kinds of subjects and he was teaching Shakespeare and Classical Greek text.
    Camus was a favorite of his. And he would allow teaching fellows to draw up reading lists so that he could learn what they were interested in studying. He really appreciated the younger generation. He loved his students, and they could feel it.

    [APPLAUSE]

    ARNOLD THALER: Elie was unique from the moment he stepped on the stage. He was never introduced. He would walk out on the stage at the 92nd Street Y, sit down at a desk or a table, and then start to talk.

    ELIE WIESEL: Oh, do I love Isaac! I love him because he suffered so much, probably.

    ARNOLD THALER: 'The Sacrifice of Isaac' was a kind of masterpiece. He described the part where Isaac says, 'Where's the sacrifice?," y'know, those kinds of things that really brought the audience with him. It was like he was there, we were there and we were following him.

    ELIE WIESEL: I love Isaac because what happens to him seems unjust to me. If Abraham and God had a problem in their relation, Isaac did not! And yet he endured meaningless agony on the alter which he and his father were ordered to build. From any angle we view the event, my sympathy goes to Isaac.
    Doesn't he remain in our collective memory as our first survivor?

Transcript

ELIE WIESEL: Learning carries its own reward.

SHEILA JOHNSON ROBBINS: He was a teacher. I think that's the role that he wanted to be remembered by, as a teacher, a wordsmith, a person that stuck to what his responsibilities were.

MARTHA HAUPTMAN: He wanted to learn along with the students and he wanted to learn from students.
The classes were on all kinds of subjects and he was teaching Shakespeare and Classical Greek text.
Camus was a favorite of his. And he would allow teaching fellows to draw up reading lists so that he could learn what they were interested in studying. He really appreciated the younger generation. He loved his students, and they could feel it.

[APPLAUSE]

ARNOLD THALER: Elie was unique from the moment he stepped on the stage. He was never introduced. He would walk out on the stage at the 92nd Street Y, sit down at a desk or a table, and then start to talk.

ELIE WIESEL: Oh, do I love Isaac! I love him because he suffered so much, probably.

ARNOLD THALER: 'The Sacrifice of Isaac' was a kind of masterpiece. He described the part where Isaac says, 'Where's the sacrifice?," y'know, those kinds of things that really brought the audience with him. It was like he was there, we were there and we were following him.

ELIE WIESEL: I love Isaac because what happens to him seems unjust to me. If Abraham and God had a problem in their relation, Isaac did not! And yet he endured meaningless agony on the alter which he and his father were ordered to build. From any angle we view the event, my sympathy goes to Isaac.
Doesn't he remain in our collective memory as our first survivor?

Teaching was a central focus of Elie Wiesel's life. He taught many hundreds of students over the years who benefited not only from his knowledge, but from his generosity of spirit. He began teaching Judaic studies at the City University of New York in the 1970s, and later taught at Boston University for more than four decades. 

Wiesel taught a variety of courses but rarely one specifically on the Holocaust. Every course bore the general title “The Literature of Memory” and drew on the Hebrew Bible, Hasidic tales, as well as classic and modern literature. However, each semester he changed the specific focus of the course and the required reading list, continually learning alongside his students.

Wiesel prioritized his time in the classroom, often arranging international travel so it would not interfere with his teaching schedule. Wiesel’s students appreciated the attention and respect that he gave them, as well as the knowledge and insights he imparted. 

In addition to his classroom teaching, Wiesel educated many people at public lectures in a variety of locations. He became a prominent teacher of Judaism through his lectures, writing, and academic work.

“What I try to give to my students is my passion, that they should share that passion, the passion for learning. Learning has never hurt people. People who believe in learning don’t hate one another.”

—Elie Wiesel, as quoted in Winter 2006–2007 issue of Bostonia, the Boston University alumni magazine

Literary Craftsman Previous Speaking Out for Persecuted People Next