Events

Three Encounters with Elie Wiesel
Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities

The Fascination with Jewish Tales

In the Bible: Job Re-revisited
Introduction by Dr. John Silber, President Emeritus, Boston University
October 26, 2009 at 7p.m.

In the Talmud and Other Sources: Satan in Ancient Memories
Introduction by Dr. Paula K. Friedman, Professor and Associate Dean for Administration, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston University
November 2, 2009 at 7p.m

In Our Own Time: The Tragedy of Saint Louis
Introduction by Rabbi Joseph A. Polak, Director, Hillel Foundation; Rabbi to the Jewish Community at Boston University
November 9, 2009 at 7p.m

Please join us for all three lectures by Professor Wiesel. Each lecture begins at 7 p.m. and is held in the Boston University Metcalf Hall, George Sherman Union, 2nd Floor, 775 Commonwealth Avenue. The lectures are free and open to the public. A ticket is not required. Seating is not reserved. Doors open at 6 pm. Sign language interpreters will be available. No University parking is provided. No seating in the auditorium after the program begins. For more information call 617-353-2238

Lectures 2009-10

November 5th
Ambassador Gabriela Shalev, Israeli Representative to the United Nations
Israel Among the Nations: A Perspective from the United Nations

November 16th
Robert Sommer, PhD Modern Jewish History and the Holocaust
Brothels in Nazi Concentration Camps

2008-09

October 26, 27, 28, 2008
Sunday Monday and Tuesday

A Celebration of Elie Wiesel
In Honor of His 80^th Birthday

This international conference has been organized to celebrate Elie Wiesel’s 80^th birthday. Over three days we will review all the major areas of Wiesel's life work. Critical consideration will be given to his writings on subjects ranging from the Bible and Hasidism to the Holocaust and the State of Israel, as well as to his human rights efforts on behalf of oppressed peoples throughout the world.

All sessions of the conference, including Professor Wiesel's Monday evening Plenary lecture, are free and open to the public. Tickets are required and will be available on September 29th for the Plenary lecture and for each of the conference sessions. For the conference program. For tickets.

February 12, 2008 – 5:15 p.m.

The Holocaust in the Soviet Union: 
Unknown Pages

a lecture by

Ilya Altman, Director of the Center for Holocaust
Research and Education in Moscow

Ilya Altman will speak on his recently published book, The Unknown Black Book: The Holocaust in the German-Occupied Soviet Territories, and other recent documents, which taken altogether provide a revelatory compilation of testimonies from Jews who survived open-air massacres and other atrocities carried out by the Germans and their allies in the occupied Soviet territories during World War II. These documents, from residents of cities, small towns, and rural areas, are first-hand accounts by survivors of work camps, ghettos, forced marches, beatings, starvation, and disease. Altman with his co-editor Joshua Rubenstein edited the original work of Vasily Grossman and Ehrenburg, which tells of Jews who lived in pits, walled-off corners of apartments, attics, and basement dugouts, unable to emerge due to fear that their neighbors would betray them, which often occurred.

December 10, 2007

a play by Elie Wiesel
in its American Premiere
translated & directed by G. Clara Kessous

Once Upon a Time

Tsai Performance Center
685 Commonwealth Avenue

This first-ever performance is being produced as a tribute to Professor Elie Wiesel, distinguished author, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.  At the conclusion of the reading, there will be a candle lighting ceremony to honor victims of the Holocaust and to mark the sixth night of Hanukkah.  Governor Deval Patrick and the Consul of Israel in Boston, Mrs. Rony Yedidia, will honor us with their participation.  This event is sponsored by the NEH Distinguished Teaching Professorship of Boston University, Pusteblume: Journal of Translation, the Consulate General of Israel in New England, the New England Holocaust Memorial, and the EWCJS.  Once Upon a Time’s website

Three Encounters with Elie Wiesel
Andrew Mellon Professor in the Humanities

The Fascination with Jewish Tales

October 15, 2007

In the Bible: The Akedah Re-visited: More Questions
Introduction by Abigail Gillman, Convener of German and Hebrew, Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, Boston University.

October 22, 2007

In the Hasidism: Rebbe Leib Soreh’s and his Mysterious Powers
Introduction by Rabbi Joseph A. Polak, Director, The Florence and Chafetz Hillel House, Rabbi to the Jewish Community at Boston University.

October 29, 2007

In Religion: The Jewishness of Jesus: A Personal Interpretation
Introduction by Dr. John Silber, President Emeritus, Boston University.

Please join us for all three lectures by Professor Wiesel are at 7 p.m. in the Boston University Metcalf Hall, George Sherman Union, 2nd Floor, 775 Commonwealth Avenue. The lectures are free and open to the public. A ticket is not required. Seating is not reserved. Doors open at 6 pm.  Sign language interpreters will be available. No University parking is provided. No seating in the auditorium after the program begins. For more information call 617-353-2238.

Lectures 2006-07 

Three Encounters with Elie Wiesel
Andrew Mellon Professor in Humanities

The Fascination with Jewish Tales

October 16, 2006

A Portrait of the Messiah
Introduction by Dr. John Silber, President Emeritus, Boston University.

October 23, 2006

"And Thou Shall Love Thy Neighbor": Against Fanaticism in the Talmud
Introduction by Steven T. Katz, Director, Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, Boston University.

October 30, 2006

A Woman in Hasidism: the Maiden of Ludmir
Introduction by Rabbi Joseph A. Polak, Hillel House, Rabbi to the Jewish Community at Boston University.

All three lectures by Professor Wiesel are at 7 p.m. in the Boston University Metcalf Hall, George Sherman Union, 2nd Floor, 775 Commonwealth Avenue. A ticket is not required. Seating is unreserved. The lectures are free and open to the public. Sign language interpreters will be available. No University parking is provided. No seating in the auditorium after the program begins. For more information call 617-353-2238.

Lectures 2005-06

Three Encounters with Elie Wiesel
Andrew Mellon Professor in Humanities

The Fascination with Jewish Tales

September 19, 2005

Why Pray
Introduction by Dr. John Silber, President Emeritus, Boston University

October 31, 2005

Words of Hate - And their Legacy
Introduction by Steven T. Katz, Director, Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, Boston University. This lecture is part of a conference entitled "Reconsidering The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: 100 Years After the Forgery", which is being held October 30-31.

November 21, 2005

The Time of the Uprooted
Introduction by Rabbi Joseph A. Polak, Hillel House, Rabbi to the Jewish Community at Boston University.

Conferences 2005-06

October 30-31, 2005

"Reconsidering The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: 100 Years after the Forgery"
This conference is being held to re-examine the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion published just 100 years ago in Russia. It will be a two-day conference involving approximately 15 papers.

November 7, 2005

Confronting the Past and National Identity: The Power of Historical Documentation
This panel celebrates the power of free public expression and marks the November 7, 2005 opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's temporary exhibit, Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Bookburnings, on display at the Boston Public Library until January 19, 2006.

Panelists will discuss four recent instances where state-sponsored studies about the history of the Holocaust, subsequently published and widely-disseminated, have provoked intense debate and pushed these nations to recognize their national roles during and after the Holocaust.

Co-Sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University

Conferences 2004

October 25-27, 2004

Why is America Different? In honor of the 350th Anniversary of the Founding of the American Jewish Community
This conference will include more than twenty scholars presenting papers in one of six sessions scheduled over a three-day period. In addition, on the evening of Monday, October 25, Elie Wiesel will give a lecture as part of the conference and on Tuesday, October 26, the Zamir Chorale will perform at the Boston University Tsai Center. Click here to see the conference program.

November 8, 2004

Maimonides: Philosopher and Scientist
This conference is in honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of Maimonides. It will be a one-day program involving 6 or 7 speakers.

November 14, 2004

America’s Response to the Holocaust: New Questions and New Perspectives
This conference, held in conjunction with the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, will address issues of concern for scholars and the public based on new research concerning actions taken by rescue activists and American academics.

Lectures 2004

November 3, 2004

Prof. Milton Shain
Jews and the "new" South Africa