The Jewish Federation’s CJE and JCRC have partnered for a community wide read and fall lecture around the award-winning book “Witness:  Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom” by author, Rabbi, artist, teacher and beloved student of Elie Wiesel. As our country and our community struggle with the novel Covid-19 pandemic as well as the on-going issues of racial injustice, this profoundly hopeful, and thought-provoking book and author event will leave us all inspired on how we can all work towards making world a more compassionate place.

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In the vein of Tuesdays with Morrie, a devoted protégé and friend of one of the world’s great thinkers takes us into the sacred space of the classroom, showing Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel not only as an extraordinary human being, but as a master teacher. 

Ariel Burger first met Elie Wiesel at age fifteen. They studied together and taught together. In his recently published book, Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, Burger describes the unexpected ways that Elie Wiesel communicated the Holocaust’s universal lessons to his students. Using as a backdrop, his own personal journey from boyhood to manhood, from student and assistant to rabbi and, in time, teacher, Burger chronicles the intimate conversations between them over decades as he sought counsel on matters of intellect, spirituality, and faith.

At this community event, Burger will share his experiences as he observed Wiesel teach what it means to be human, modeling humanity and compassion for the other in this complex world. We will explore how Wiesel used his own experiences to support those who were suffering around the world, and how he utilized the power of empathy and masterful teaching to encourage his students to change the course of history.