Above all else, Wiesel a great man
Re Elie Wiesel was a beacon, a pillar, who lost his way, Opinion July 15 I had the privilege and the honour to meet and spend time with Elie Wiesel. One of the things he shared with me was his response when he was asked to comment on the passing of someone with whom he had differences: “My religion forbids me from speaking ill of the dead.” Clearly, columnist Rick Salutin does not subscribe to this approach or to the approach of honouring those who have passed, but rather he chose to use Elie Wiesel’s death as a platform to advance his own political agenda.
Elie Wiesel was a great man who suffered unspeakable tragedy and who devoted his life to trying to make the world a better place, and that is how he should be remembered. May his memory be a blessing and inspiration to us all.
Michael B. Soberman, Thornhill
Rick Salutin’s column on Elie Wiesel is thought-provoking. Perhaps Salutin expected Wiesel to be a saint, treading in the footsteps of Gandhi, or showing Mother Teresa’s overwhelming love for mankind. But then, neither of those pillars of goodness struggled to survive the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
After that, and Europe’s indifference to almost two millennia of pogroms, one can understand Wiesel’s rigid, “I must identify with whatever Israel does — even with her errors.” History is on his side. Wiesel was great man. Tough, very human and unforgiving.
Garry Burke, Oro-Medonte, Ont.
Rick Salutin has written a well-reasoned review of the wonderful achievements and tragic blind spots of Elie Weisel’s life. His lifelong commitment to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive made for some strange bedfellows and contradictory ethical positions. Don’t let the pro-Israel hasbara (nationalist propaganda) machine get away with painting Israel’s policy as black and white. I am a Jew who is very concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism, much of which results from the conflation of Jewish values with some of Israel’s policies that are outright racist and repressive.
Daina Green, Ward’s Island