Lessons from a Master Teacher

By MARTHA HAUPTMAN

Elie Wiesel is respected throughout the world as an author, moral philosopher, storyteller, and humanitarian activist. Through his efforts and his advocacy for victimized groups, this Nobel Peace Prize laureate has influenced the course of world history. Perhaps less well known is the fact that since 1976 he has been the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University. As a teacher, he has impacted the lives of thousands of students who have gone out into the world profoundly changed, excited about making their own contributions, while bearing his message of peace and hope.

During my twenty seven years of working with Professor Wiesel, I have observed his impact on the lives of many young people. These students have changed dramatically, and not only from what they have been taught in the classroom. The following are some of the thoughts shared by Professor Wiesel's students about his effect on them.

“He challenges me always; to look more carefully and critically at the world, to raise the questions, to seek out the meanings, to draw the meanings together and analyze them. To collect the Injustices, to call them by name, even when doing so is painful. As my teacher he is a guide, a comfort, a prod, and always he is there as support. And through it all he manages to make me feel as though I have done it all on my own.” — Janet McCord

“Here was a man who had been honored by presidents, who was internationally known for his uncompromising moral stances, who had written some of the most important books and papers of the 20th century. But I think we loved him because he never acted like he did.” — David Lubars

“There is not a second of rudeness in his class ... it was the most civil class in my life ... moreover, out of respect and love of Elie Wiesel, students are always well-prepared and respectful of each other.”

“Elie Wiesel’s classes are always conducted on two levels. They concentrate not only on the meaning of the text athand, but also emphasize its lesson for humankind. The passionate intellect Professor Wiesel conveys kindles a flame of the same nature in his students. Previous illusions are dissected, prejudices exposed, and attitudes reshaped. One cannot participate in Elie Wiesel’s class and not be profoundly changed.” — Joseph Kanofsky

“To study with Wiesel is an adventure into the depths of melancholy and despair while at the same time appreciating the rich legacy of Judaism which has survived throughout the centuries. He testifies to the great evils of humanity, yet is able to express the profound hope in human survival.” — Rabbi Barry Blum

"Elie Wiesel is a teacher of such stature, modesty, and grace that only the Bible provides his proper likeness. Not a single one of his students is unchanged; our lives wrapped inextricably in his, and by his, all of us moving outward toward something we can only begin to comprehend. Each of us yearns to be, for him, a kind of David whose voice, our teacher tells us, ‘alone can dispense the darkness in Saul.'" — Barbara Helfgott-Hyett

“I am indebted to Elie Wiesel beyond expressing. I wanted to be a writer from childhood. Yet itwas not until I was blessed by this wonderful teacher’s influence, example, and encouragement that ... I found the courage and hope to try.” — Susan Dodd

“I came to him as a student, but I left him as a teacher. This is, perhaps, the most precious gift he could have shared .... If I have a wish, it is that my children will know what it is to learn at his feet. May they learn his gentleness, his stubbornness, and his wisdom.” — Cantor Riki Lippitz

“Before taking Professor Wiesel’s class, I felt indifferent toward Judaism. I was a Jew, and I was content neither to understand nor investigate what it meant to be a Jew. Professor Wiesel shook me from my complacency and left me feeling uneasy with this decision ... he made me realize that I was part of a three thousand year old tradition which had witnessed an incredible history: sadness and joy, beauty and ugliness, triumph and tragedy. As a part of this tradition I not only have a responsibility to my past, but to my future—I have the responsibility to bear witness to my people, a responsibility which I share with Moses, Rabbi Akiba, and Professor Wiesel.” — Stanley Jacobs

“One of the reasons I hold a profound respect for Professor Wiesel is because he, unlike many others, was able to take the personal tragedy of his life and use it to help others. Many people allow their experiences to embitter them. After a period of silence, Professor Wiesel confronted his past and successfully tried to understand what happened. He then shared his story with others, and instilled in them a hope for a better world as well as the courage to share their own stories. In short, by confronting the past, he overcame the tragedy of his life, and helped others to help themselves…"

In what he offers his students, Professor Wiesel fulfills the mission described in his book, A Jew Today. There he writes that a Jew’s mission was “never to make the world Jewish, but rather to make it more human.”