Product Description
In Wise Men and Their Tales, a master teacher gives us his fascinating insights into the lives of a wide range of biblical figures, Talmudic scholars, and Hasidic rabbis.

The matriarch Sarah, fiercely guarding her son, Isaac, against the negative influence of his half-brother Ishmael; Samson, the solitary hero and protector of his people, whose singular weakness brought about his tragic end; Isaiah, caught in the middle of the struggle between God and man, his messages of anger and sorrow counterbalanced by his timeless, eloquent vision of a world at peace; the saintly Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who by virtue of a lifetime of good deeds was permitted to enter heaven while still alive and who tried to ensure a similar fate for all humanity by stealing the sword of the Angel of Death.

Elie Wiesel tells the stories of these and other men and women who have been sent by God to help us find the godliness within our own lives. And what interests him most about these people is their humanity, in all its glorious complexity. They get angry—at God for demanding so much, and at people, for doing so little. They make mistakes. They get frustrated. But through it all one constant remains—their love for the people they have been charged to teach and their devotion to the Supreme Being who has sent them. In these tales of battles won and lost, of exile and redemption, of despair and renewal, we learn not only by listening to what they have come to tell us, but by watching as they live lives that are both grounded in earthly reality and that soar upward to the heavens.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Wise Man Tells Wise Men's Tales
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel returns to thoughtful biography of major figures of Judaism in this fine collection.A modern-day prophet, Wiesel commands our attention because of his moving personal story of perseverance in the face of unspeakable horror (which he tells unforgettably in Night (Oprah's Book Club)), because of his wonderfully beautiful poetic prose, and because of his extraordinary insight.

In this volume, Wiesel addresses Ishamel, Hagar, Lot's wife, Aaron, Miriam, Nadab, Abihu, Esau, Jethro, Gideon, Samson, Saul, Samuel, Isaiah, and Hosea among Biblical characters, as well as Tarfon, Yehoshua ben Levi, Abbaye, and Rava among Talmudic sages and Zanz and Sadigur among the Hasidic masters.

This is territory that Wiesel has periodically explored before.He writes of other Biblical characters in Messengers of God: Biblical portraits and legends (where he tells of Adam, Cain, Abel, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Job), Five Biblical Portraits (where he tells of Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah), Sages and Dreamers: Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Portraits and Legends (where he tells of Noah, Jephthah and his daughter, Ruth, Solomon, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther), and in his chapter in the anthology Congregation: Contemporary Writers Read the Jewish Bible (Ezekiel again).He also writes on Talmudic sages in Sages and Dreamers: Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Portraits and Legends.And he also writes of Hasidic Sages in Souls on Fire: Portraits and Legends of Hasidic Masters and Four Hasidic Masters and Their Struggle Against Melancholy (Ward-Phillips Lectures in English Language & Literature).

Wiesel repeatedly helps us to see surprisingly fresh perspectives in these long-examined vistas.His reexamination proves the enduring value of the great Biblical Texts.And with the significance of his contribution, he reassures us of the continuing worth of the human soul.

Wrestling with God
The name "Israel" means something like "he who wrestles with God".And one of the unique things about the Jewish faith, is that it is the only major world religion whose adherents feel free to dispute with their Maker.

After his horrible traumas in the Holocaust, Wiesel thought for a while that he was through with religion.But his own children came along, and he found himself teaching them Torah.So he has stayed connected with his tradition, however uneasily, and has produced some genuine Jewish classics over the years, questioning all the while.

This tradition of dispute is the real subject here, not so much the sketches of the minor Biblical characters.For each, Wiesel records their appearances in Scripture, and wonders why they meet the fates that they do."Why" is the constant refrain.Why does Miriam get a harsher punishment than the others around her?Why does Lot's wife look back; and why doesn't Lot?Why is Aaron such a jellyfish?The Almighty isn't talking, so Wiesel just records his puzzlement and sometimes his dismay, and moves on.

This book isn't as rewarding as his first collection of tales of the Hasidim, _Souls On Fire_.Even the most goyish reader could feel part of the Hasidic family in that warm, wonderful book. This one isn't quite up to that level.But he does take the reader places, and it is good to more closely consider these lesser Biblical characters.Even if we don't get all the answers he asks for. ... Read more

Product Description
The U.S. official who spearheaded the fight to reclaim the stolen and confiscated assets of Holocaust survivors and other victims of World War II tells the inside story of that fight and how it was won.

In the second half of the 1990s, Stuart Eizenstat was perhaps the most controversial U.S. foreign policy official in Europe. His mission had nothing to do with Russia, the Middle East, Yugoslavia, or any of the other hotspots of the day. Rather, Eizenstat's mission was to provide justice--albeit belated and imperfect justice--for the victims of World War II. Imperfect Justice is Eizenstat's account of how the Holocaust became a political and diplomatic battleground fifty years after the war's end, as the issues of dormant bank accounts, slave labor, confiscated property, looted art, and unpaid insurance policies convulsed Europe and America. He recounts the often heated negotiations with the Swiss, the Germans, the French, the Austrians, and various Jewish organizations, showing how these moral issues, shunted aside for so long, exposed wounds that had never healed and conflicts that had never been properly resolved. Though we will all continue to reckon with the crimes of World War II for a long time to come, Eizenstat's account shows that it is still possible to take positive steps in the service of justice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Imperfect by choice
I was waiting for this book to be published before it even hit the printers. The reason is because I played a role in this, went to see Eizenstat specifically to point out what he left out, and politely confronted him over it.

One thing Eizenstat brings out is that the Jewish community of America seems to have problems getting along with the European Jewish community. There is also a question of style, in that American president Bronfman would show up with a huge entourage, whereas European Jews tend to be more subtle.

My role in this sordid tale, which got cut out of the book for reasons below, regards the looted books. Just check the index and you will not see "Offenbach Depot" or "Library of Congress." What happened during WWII was that the Nazis not only looted art but books as well. In an odd twist of fate, the Nazis wanted to found a center to study Jews and Judaism. With that in mind, they collected over a million books rather than destroy them. At the end of the war the Nazis had them stored at the Offenbach Depot along with a number of other items.

A committee was set up, which included men from the Library of Congress, in order to repatriate books to the countries they had been looted from. The Nazis had also identified individual Jews with their own private libraries (I believe of 10,000 books) and confiscated those as well as items from Jewish libraries and synagogues. Just as with the art, many of the Jew owners had been murdered, so they went back to the country of origin. But what to do about Germany and those considered "unclaimed?" It was decided these for the most part would go to newly-founded Israel as the moral inheritors.

Unfortunately, in my opinion (and for which I was quoted in The Washington Post), the Library of Congress brought over hundreds of thousands of books, keeping some for their own collection and distributing others to 250 institutions.This is where I come in.I was the Library employee who had brought over the Library archives from storage (35 boxes I think) for some research on Third Reich materials in the Rare Book Division. For this reason, I was called to speak with the historian on Clinton's presidential commission as well as, three days later, the historian for the Department of Justice working on the same issue.

I told both the same thing when they asked "Does the Library have any Holocaust loot?": Yes. Surprised, they asked me how I knew. Easy, the documents point to this. Furthermore, there are stamps on the books which so identify them. Indeed, "transfer" and Offenbach Depot identifiers are all over the books. The problem, as I told them, is twofold. First, with over 20 million books at the Library, the majority of the loot was in the general collection. Secondly, thousands were sent to other libraries. I provided each with copies of the documents proving this. Interestingly, a number of the institutions receiving the material were worried about the legality and morality of the books. Of all the institutions that received the books, though, only Canada properly identified each book as being Holocaust loot. This was in case a family member appeared and wanted to search for family property.

After finding this out, Eizenstat's assistant called me up and asked to meet me. I agreed, but told him only off-site. I was then told that the Librarian of Congress, James Billington, had told this man to get lost. I then came home to a message on my answering machine from Bronfman's assistant, Elan Steinberg, giving me his office and cell phone numbers. By the time I called him back in a couple of days, events had moved very rapidly, including a DOJ meeting where my name was mentioned quite a few times. A woman answered Steinberg's phone and told me he didn't want to talk to me. Fine.

The book issue was at first on the commission's website, which I copied before they decided to erase that part. So what happened when I met Eizenstat? At the book talk at the Library of Congress he was warmly greeted by the Librarian as "his friend of thirty years." Okay. At the book signing I identifiedmyself as the "unidentified Library employee" in his initial report regarding the books. His pen stopped in mid-air before he could sign. "Was this resolved to your satisfaction?" I replied, "Absolutely not."

This book, therefore is quite hypocritical on the part of the author. I am sure he is a nice guy and means well. But this country builds statues to people who tell the truth simply for the fact that telling the truth is always quite difficult--otherwise everybody would always tell the truth. I paid a price for telling the truth, even though I have no agenda and am not Jewish or the son of some SS doctor. That's why I read with amusement his closing statement and quote on page 356, "It is not your obligation to finish the task, but neither are you free to exempt yourself from it."

US arrogance
As a distant observer it appears to me that the Clinton administration encouraged this disaster to happen expecting solid contributions in return from traditional big time donors among the plaintiffs. When this went out of control, Mr. Eizenstat was sent to do damage control.
As the son of a Hungarian Jewish Holocaust refugee I do have mixed feelings. I got frustrated by many issues that were carefully avoided or downplayed in this book.

The preposterous claim that Switzerland had never dealt with it's own past is a recurring theme throughout the book. Wrong. Many books, movies, conferences, TV documentaries dealt with those issues before the crisis. NeitherStuart Eizenstat or D'Amato uncovered anything new but the distortion that was made of those documents was extremely cynical to say the least. Stuart Eizenstat believes that any declassified piece of information from the OSS blasting Switzerland is the absolute truth and continues to claim that the actions of the Swiss government helped extend the war. This is false and has been debunked over and over.

I also wish the book would have more than a passing reference to the holocaust assets in US and Israeli banks. Where isthe outcry over those? Not only did the US close its gates to Jewish refugees, before, during and after the war, but immediately after the warhelped Nazi war criminals. In fact every Alliedor neutral country had terrible policies that turned away refugees.

How embarrassing that 2 of the most visible individuals among the plaintiffs were eventually found to be dubious characters. One was fired from the WJC in 2007 for allegedly embezzling [...] (an affair that was discovered in part thanks to the persistence of Alfred Donath, The president of the FSCI). Whilethat individual was denouncingthe perfidious Swiss, he was helping himself with WJC monies in his own secret Swiss bank account. The other one was arrested for having sex with a 17 year old prostitute in Austria in 2005.

Mr. Eizenstat is satisfied for having made Switzerland do the "right thing". The author says "Only the United States cared enough to try to repair the damage...". Very well. Then when will the US do the "right thing" and indemnify the descendants of African-American slaves, Vietnamese civilians or more recently the Iraqis affected by the war?

What transpires from the book is a disturbing feeling of great moral superiority from the "benevolent" United States government represented by Stuart Eizenstat in this instance, lecturing, guiding, or chastisingforeign nations on about anything. That the plaintiffs were right on some instances, no doubt. But frankly reading the book 10 years after those events, it is in retrospect laughable to get lectured by a country that has since invaded nations, tortured, water boarded, detained innocents, spied on it's own citizens, and has presided over the collapse of the world economy.

Hard to see the forest for the trees
Former Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat is a man of great moral conviction and political savvy. He epitomizes what it means to be a true public servant. His passion for justice comes through very clearly in this book. Historians of the Clinton administration and of Europe's response to the Holocaust will find this book invaluable.

That said, I found this book quite difficult to read. Eizenstat's blow-by-blow descriptions of the seemingly endless negotiations lack dramatic structure and are far too detailed for a book intended for the general reader. When Eizenstat looks at the big picture -- the differing political cultures of France and the United States, the Austrians' cramped apologetics for their role in the Holocaust -- he is convincing. But far too much of this book feels as if it's written by a lawyer for other lawyers. It needed an editor who could get past Eizenstat's note cards and create a real narrative.

Insights into Difficult Negotiations to Secure Justice
Imperfect Justice is a book that will appeal to many readers . . . but for different reasons.At one level, it's a magnificent story of turning back the clock to right wrongs dating back to the 1930s.At another level, it's an intriguing story of how to secure agreement among those who have vastly different interests and are pursuing them aggressively.At a third level, it's a tale of how a negotiating team learned from its experiences.At a fourth level, it's an inspiring tale of what the U.S. can accomplish when it focuses its attention on improving life for everyone.At a fifth level, it's an insightful case history of how agreements can have negative, unintended consequences.At a sixth level, it's a template for working on other important international issues in the future.I felt greatly enriched by this book, and am sure you will to.I believe this book deserves many more than five stars.

Although I had read about some of the many settlements made in the 1990s by European countries and companies concerning slave labor, looted bank accounts, and misdeeds during World War II, I had no idea of the scope of that experience and effort until I read this book.It's a candid appraisal of how class action lawyers, Jewish groups, the U.S. government, some state government officials, some well-meaning Europeans and lots of recalcitrant parties came together to recognize wrongs that had been previously ignored.

To me, it was shocking to recognize the full extent of misbehavior during World War II.The numbers of slave laborers and the conditions are beyond easy comprehension.

The misbehavior of companies and countries since then to take advantage of those who were victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi era was even more shocking.The insensitivity and lack of concern for others described in this book made me shake my head in disgust.

I also came away with a different impression of the leaders and Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Israel and many other countries as a result of understanding more about how they handled these issues.It's an important education that you should have for yourself.

Ultimately, we must all be very grateful for the good will of those who worked so hard to provide some justice (including apologies and some payments) for those who had been overlooked and ignored for so long.Those who obstructed the process know who they are (and the book names many of them), and should be ashamed of themselves.

I was pleased to see that this paperback version has a new epilogue to update the implementation of the agreements since the end of the Clinton administration.I was disappointed to see that the Bush administration has not been very effective in following up on the fine work that preceded them in office in this important area.

If you think justice is important, read this book!

What It Takes To Make A Difference
On one level, this book is worth reading just to affirm that there have in fact been times when important people, in this case one in particular -- the author -- cared fiercely about showing many suffering and powerless thousands that the world cared about the unfathomable injustices they had suffered.The victims didn't really get justice, as that was, as the title acknowledges, not remotely possible.But at least they knew that, finally, after decades of wall to wall indifference, someone was listening and trying, seriously, to do what could be done.

But what will make it hard for many readers to put this book down is that it is both a good story, entertainly told, and a shrewd analysis of a complex multi-party, multi-governmental, legal and political negotiation with high stakes, bitter differences, and high-powered protagonists.The book is certainly one of the best case-studies in captivity of the tricky and combustible mix of law, diplomacy, and politics both bureaucratic and democratic, that drives such processes.That this episode stayed on track to reach the best result that it could have was very far from a sure thing, from the beginning to the end.Eizenstat's seasoned, sometimes cynical, frequently amusing exegisis of the calculations, mistakes, and victories of the players makes the book hugely instructive for professionals as well as entertaining for casual students of government. It could be a popular teaching aid in law schools, especially for Eizenstat's exposition of his own strategies, and his often surprisingly candid Monday Morning quarterbacking of himself. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Understanding and Scholarly Depth
Jack Kolbert brings with him the richness of his relationship with Wiesel as well as the depth of his scholarly wisdom as he profiles his friend in this biography.Having had the privilage of being a student of Kolbert's, I see also in this work the benefit of his life experiences as well as hear the tone of his teaching.This book is comperable to attending on of Kolbert's lectures--warm, funny, anecdotal at times, yet incredibly focused on the man and the factors involved in Wiesel's development as an author and humanitarian.Kolbert's knowledge of French literature, existentialist thought and Franco-Jewish literature is outstanding, and he brings all of this to the table as he writes about one of the strongest voices in the world today, the incomperable Elie Wiesel.For a Wiesel admirer, this is not a work to be missed.

A first-rate companion book to Wiesel's work
The Worlds Of Elie Wiesel: An Overview Of His Career And His Major Themes is a biography written by Jack Kolbert, a personal friend of world-famous author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Focusing on Wiesel's personal struggles against human beings both malevolent and indifferent to malevolence, as well as his trials of faith with regard to a God that permitted the Holocaust, The Worlds Of Elie Wiesel is ultimately a testimony to Wiesel's conviction in the solidarity of the Jewish people. A first-rate companion book to Wiesel's work, The Worlds Of Elie Wiesel is very highly recommended to students of Holocaust Studies, as well as the non-specialist general reader of biographies focusing on influential men who have lived through "interesting times". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Honest and True -- Very, *Very* Powerful
The quote from the New York Times on the cover of the first English translation of this book has it exactly right: "a slim volume of terrifying power." Wiesel's retelling of his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp is concise and seemingly artless. But the absence of sentimental pathos only makes the story so much more moving, so much more powerful. I first listened to this novel as an audio book some five or six years ago, and the experience was overwhelming. Since then, I've listened to it again perhaps five times, I've read it in the French original twice, and I've read the English translation by Stella Rodway once. I now know it almost by heart. Certain passages from the book would haunt my imagination for weeks, leaving an indelible imprint on my soul. For instance, I feel I know with certainty that I will remember the fate of Moshe the Beadle -- a human being of flesh and blood who once lived and breathed, and whose story is told here in but a few pages -- until my dying day. 'Never shall I forget that night' -- this is a very, *very* powerful book. ... Read more

Product Description
On August 12, 1952, Russia's greatest Jewish writers were secretly executed by Stalin. In this remarkable blend of history and imagination, Paltiel Kossover meets the same fate but, unlike his real-life counterparts, he is permitted to leave a written testament. From a Jewish boyhood in pre-revolutionary Russia, Paltiel traveled down a road that embraced Communism, only to return to Russia and discover a Communist Party that had become his mortal enemy. Two decades later, Paltiel's son, Grisha, reads this precious record of his father's life and finds that it illuminates the shadowed planes of his own.
        
Passionate and fierce, this story of a father's legacy to his son revisits some of the most dramatic events of our century, and confirms yet again Elie Wiesel's stature as "a writer of the highest moral imagination" (San Francisco Chronicle). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Finding Words Among the Silent
Elie Wiesel has proven himself to be a master storyteller, taking real life accounts and events, and turning them into haunting literature.While the focus of "The Testament" is not the Holocaust, as is the focus of many of his other works, Jewish history and what happens to the Jews in WWII plays a large role."The Testament" bears Wiesel's trademark stylings, the shifting back and forth between time, that brings past and present together, and a son trying to come to terms with his father's life, a father he was never able to know.

"The Testament" is the 'confession' of sorts of the main character, Palatiel Kossover.Palatiel was a Russian-born Jew who traded in his faith for communism while he was a teenager.He devoted his life to words to stir the party to action, taking part in the fighting in Spain and Russia, fighting against the Nazis.Yet upon returning to Russia after the war, he finds the party isn't what he once believed in, and soon finds himself a hunted man because of what he has said and printed.It is while he is in prison that he writes out his testment, a long letter to a son he shall never see again.Palatiel's story is intersected with that of his son Grisha, a young mute estranged from his mother and desperate to learn of his father.When a mutual friend informs him of his father's past, Grisha knows that it is his task to tell people of his father, to bring his father back to life.

Normally the stylings of Wiesel's novels work for him - the shifts back and forth between time in "The Testament" get too bogged down with characters, who because of espionage related reasons, have more than one name.This can make it difficult for readers to follow all of Palatiel's movements and associations during the war.Yet despite that, "The Testament" is as powerful of a work as any Wiesel has written.It explores and exposes what is really at the heart of human nature, and how in the midst of desolation, hope can live on no matter how desperately it is being crushed.

The Testament - A Weisel Sleeper
Weisel delved deep into the complex nature of humans and the human attempt to deal with society's constantly changing moral/ethical guides. I know I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come. Although thetopic can be depressing, Weisel finds the beauty in the way his charactersdeal with the problems in front of them. ... Read more

Product Description
Indelible Shadows investigates questions raised by films about the Holocaust. How does one make a movie that is both morally just and marketable? Film scholar Annette Insdorf provides sensitive readings of individual films and analyzes theoretical issues such as the "truth claims" of the cinematic medium. The third edition of Indelible Shadows includes five new chapters that cover recent trends, as well as rediscoveries of motion pictures made during and just after World War II. It addresses the treatment of rescuers, as in Schindler's List; the controversial use of humor, as in Life is Beautiful; the distorted image of survivors, and the growing genre of documentaries that return to the scene of the crime or rescue. The annotated filmography offers capsule summaries and information about another hundred Holocaust films from around the world, making this edition the most comprehensive and up to date discussion of films about the Holocaust, and an invaluable resource for film programmers and educators.Annette Insdorf is Director of Undergraduate Film Studies at Columbia University, and a Professor in the Graduate Film Division of the School of the Arts. She is the author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kielowski (Hyperion, 1999) and Francois Truffaut (Cambridge, 1995). She served as a jury member at the Berlin Film Festival and the Locarno Film Festival, and is the panel moderator at the Telluride Film Festival. Insdorf co-hosts (with Roger Ebert) Cannes Film Festival coverage for BRAVo/IFC. ... Read more

Product Description
On May 13 1992, the Bosnian civil war finally came to Prijedo, a once-peaceful city where Muslims, Croats and Serbs had lived side by side for centuries. The Serb occupation of Prijedor was an exercise in what the victors called 'ethnic cleansing' whereby the town's Muslim and Croat citizens were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Among those who lived though the nightmare was the journalist Rewak Hukanovic, whose riveting memoir chronicles the crimes against humanity that were committed by the Bosnian Serbs in the death camps of Omarska and Manjaca. Through the summer and fall of that endless year, Hukanovic and his friends, colleagues, relatives and neighbours were subjected to terror , torture, and grisly death. Through his unbelieving eyes we see the patina of civilization stripped away from aggressor and victim alike, revealing a brutality that calls into question all our notions of human decency. ... Read more

Product Description
This book honors Yom Ha-shoah, Holocaust Rememberance Day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

They would not be severed from their people
This book, is a classic testament to the brutal persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union during the dark days of Communist opression.
With both poetic and potent eloquency Wiesel describes the atmosphere of fear and silence, that reigned among Soviet Jewry during the 1960's when this book was written. The attempts to force Jews to abandon their faith and identity, and to cut ties with their brothers and sisters in Israel, by the malignant and brutal Communist tyrants. then there was the daily disparagement of the State of Israel and the maligning of Zionism by the State Media (something we see in may countries around the world today).
Indeed even though Communist tyranny in Russia has collapsed, the crusade of hate by the Left, formulated by Soviet propagandists has only got more vicious and irascible, in recent years.
In South Africa, for example, a hard-core Stalinist Cabinet Minister, (of Jewish descent) trained and educated in the old Soviet Union, daily comes up with venomous and ruthless attacks on the Jewish State and it's supporters, and is directing a campaign of ethnic hatred against Israel and it's Jews.
But the Jews of the Soviet Union refused to forget who they were, or to give up their faith or their love for the State of Israel.
Reffering to the violent anti-Israel propaganda formulated in the Soviet Union, the author explains : "The purpose of such propaganda is to make Israel seem hateful to the general populace but to the Jews as well, to undermine the esteem in which they hold the Jewish state, and to convince them finally to relinquish an idea which has failed, a vision of redemption which has somehow been made profane..."
But this form of psychological warfare, directed against the Jewish dream, and designed to divide Jews of the diaspora from their own people in Israel, failed in Russia.
Jews all over the world need to reject it, wherever it raises it's ugly head.
As Wiesel describes 'there are Jews who will under no circumstances let themselves be severed from their people'.

A book that helped change history
This report by Elie Weisel on the Jews of Silence helped increase greatly Western interest in the Russian Jewish community. It helped rally the Jewish world in support of the emigration movement. And eventually it helped in the liberation of the Soviet Jews from their prison. Over one million were to come to Israel in the decades ahead.
It is rare that a book has so much influence. A courageous witness like Elie Weisel deserves great credit for this historical ' miracle'. ... Read more

Product Description
So begins Elie Wiesel's harmonious retelling of twenty mysterious and wonderfully compelling stories about King Solomon--rarely heard tales that span the revered ruler's life, from the time he took the throne at age twelve, to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, to the disintegration of the kingdom upon his death. Rich, rewarding, gracefully told, this keepsake book is illustrated by Mark Podwal, whose fluid and symbolic paintings grace every spread. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book Review: King Solomon and His Magic Ring, by Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel's new children's book, King Solomon and His Magic Ring, is an unpleasantly surprising work. Wiesel, author of over forty works of fiction and non-fiction, stuns readers with an uninspiring, bland retelling of a famous legend. He attempts to catch our children's attention with a thin spidery plot that is difficult to grasp.

As a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Wiesel could have done much better for himself. Instead, he has written one more book that we are able to add to the growing pile of poorly written children's books lacking in stimuli. Surely, "Not only was Solomon the wisest of all rulers, he was also the mightiest." (12). Well, not only is that line cliché, it's also not something that would excite a young mind.

Speaking of exciting, the paintings featured in this piece are of very high quality and talent. However, they are not suitable for children. The art is too dark and depicts demons, giants, lions, and other things that might frighten younger readers. In addition to boring or perhaps scaring today's youth, Wiesel has also managed to impress upon them a couple of incorrect teachings, including one about women. "Solomon's worst mistake? His marriage to the daughter of the Pharaoh." (36) The daughter of the Pharaoh gives a poor example of women. The book describes her as an enthralling dancer who later tricks Solomon whilst he is under her spell. Not all women are evil temptresses out to control men through manipulative ways; the author should make that clear.

Now, what about this magic ring? "From the moment he slipped the ring on his finger, Solomon's authority extended over everything from spirits and animals to the wind." (14) That sounds a bit like mind control. Add that to the way Wiesel portrays King Solomon; a reader might think Wiesel was advocating ruling with an iron fist. Children's books are meant to be entertaining, yes, but not to cause the youngster to reach for incorrect ideals.

Our media claims `90's youth is desensitized to television murders and sex in the movies. However, since children are taught that books are the alleys towards truth, they tend to try to learn from them, rather than media. Let Wiesel not inadvertently poison the minds of tomorrow with works such as this. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

When will they every learn?
"One Generation After" came on the heels of Wiesel's novel "A Beggar in Jerusalem" which focused on the same concerns about the aftermath of WWII and the Six Day War."One Generation After" is a series of collected thoughts, some fashioned as dialogues, others as stories, about the place of Jews in the world twenty-five years after the Holocaust.The events of WWII are very much alive in Wiesel's writings, and in the world in general, as he explores what it means to be a Jew and the place that Israel holds within the world and the factors that shape identity.

Perhaps one of the most moving stories in this book is Wiesel's account of returning to his hometown in search of the gold watch he received for his bar mitzvah.Before his family was taken to the concentration camps, they buried their valuables in their yard; but upon returning to a village that is no longer the same and digging up the corroded watch, he realizes he cannot take it with him.He never returns to his village.But not all of the tales are memories of Wiesel's alone.He talks about people he met during the war and after, whose lives were forever altered.He offers his thoughts into issues of the day that still resonate in today's world.His thoughts on why Israel is so scorned by the world are insightful and sadly, dead on.And he offers a compelling explanation for why so many who survived the camps have struggled with faith.

Elie Wiesel is a talented and intelligent writer, whose voice the world may never have heard if it wasn't for his experience in Auschwitz.He has spent his life as a witness, testifying to what he has seen, and keeping the memories of those who did not survive."One Generation After" may seem disjointed and rather diary-like, but it offers great insight into the ways of the world, even if twenty-five years after the Holocaust the lessons haven't been learned.Unfortunately even now, over sixty years later, those lessons haven't been learned, but Wiesel offers hope that it is possible. ... Read more

Product Description
Recounting the life of an Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Prize-winning writer, a young reader's introduction to the Holocaust and one of its notable figures tells of his courage, dedication to justice, and literary achievements. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent gift for kids
This clear and easy to understand biography of Elie Wiesel is aperfect introduction of Holocaust literature for kids. It's especiallyimportant since many of the survivors are passing away and there is always the looming threat of forgetting this crime against humanity. I would recommend this book for kids 10 and over -any discussion of the horrors might be a bit too extreme for any younger children. Elie's courage and joy de vivre are a lesson for everyone, not just the children. ... Read more

Product Description
A brief biography of the winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, who having survived the Holocaust, dedicated his life to speaking and writing about these terrible events so that they would not be forgotten. ... Read more

Product Description
Elie Wiesel was among only 400 children who managed to survive Auschwitz. He has devoted his life since the war to battling injustice and has been an ardent spokesman for Soviet Jews and other moral causes. In 1985, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian achievements. This JPS Young Biography has been well researched and clearly written. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This book is very well written; disturbing, but well done
As I wrote the index for this book, I'd find that I was wrapped up in the story so much that I was crying; I'd have to go back to re-read sections so I could index it. It's very disturbing, but very well written. I highly recommend it for all people, so we'll learn not to repeat these atrocities. ... Read more