Witness, Ariel Burger
Witness, Ariel Burger
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Witness
Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom

Author: Ariel Burger

Narrator: Jason Culp

Unabridged: 8 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/13/2018

Synopsis

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.The world remembers Elie Wiesel—Nobel laureate, activist, and author of more than forty books, including Oprah’s Book Club selection Night—as a great humanist. He passed away in July 2016.Ariel Burger first met Elie Wiesel at age fifteen. They studied together and taught together. Witness chronicles the intimate conversations between these two men over decades, as Burger sought counsel on matters of intellect, spirituality, and faith, while navigating his own personal journey from boyhood to manhood, from student and assistant to rabbi and, in time, teacher.In this profoundly hopeful, thought-provoking, and inspiring book, Burger takes us into Elie Wiesel’s classroom, where the art of listening and storytelling conspire to keep memory alive. As Wiesel’s teaching assistant, Burger gives us a front-row seat witnessing these remarkable exchanges in and out of the classroom. The act of listening, of sharing these stories, makes of us, the listeners, witnesses.

About Ariel Burger

Ariel Burger is a lecturer, rabbi, artist, and educator. He worked in the nonprofit sector for many years and now lectures widely and leads workshops for hundreds of teachers, activists, and nonprofit professionals. Elie Wiesel’s close student and teaching assistant, Burger had the privilege of working with his mentor up close and studying privately with him. Burger lives in Boston.

About Jason Culp

Jason Culp, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, has been acting since the age of ten, and his credits include a variety of television, theater, and film roles. He is best known for his role as Julian Jerome on General Hospital. In addition to audiobooks and voice-over work in national commercials, he has also narrated documentaries for National Geographic and the History Channel.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M is taking a break.

“ If anything can, it is memory that will save humanity.” (Elie Wiesel) I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy of this book. It was before the horrific event last week at a Pittsburgh synagogue where eleven people were murdered because they were Jewish. I thought about the Holocaust and the hat......more

Goodreads review by PattyMacDotComma

5★ ‘Listening to a witness makes you a witness.’ . . . ‘The witness inhabits the world of madness. He sees what is happening with lucidity, but when he reports what he has seen, he appears to others to be mad. . . . ‘If anything can, it is memory that will save humanity.’ - Elie Wiesel” [from his Nobel......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader

5 stars! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Ariel Burger was first a student, later a teaching assistant, and much later, a friend to Elie Wiesel, and he writes here of Wiesel’s time teaching at Boston University, something he did for over 40 years. The primary, most important task in Wiesel’s teachings was educating a......more

Quotes

“Transports the reader to those salons of learning on the Charles River, where Wiesel’s students over the years ranged from the granddaughter of a Nazi SS officer to a Korean minister in training.” USA Today

“Burger’s honest depiction of doubt—both Wiesel’s and his own—is a great strength of this memoir…Makes a case for the power of teaching and for words as perhaps the ultimate teachers of how to live.” Chicago Tribune

“Presents a personal side of Wiesel that we normally didn’t see…We owe Rabbi Dr. Ariel Burger our gratitude for this special opportunity.” Jewish Journal

“Narrator Jason Culp…subtly brings out Wiesel’s distinct Eastern–European accent, contrasting it with the devout and curious tone of the young American Ariel Burger…This audiobook is insightful, life affirming, and life changing. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“Readers intimately experience Wiesel’s classroom, compassion, and renowned wisdom through the perspective of a spiritually ambitious young man coming of age under the guidance and watchful eye of this extraordinary adviser.” Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“Burger’s love for Wiesel, both professional and personal, shines through, and the reader will walk away with renewed admiration for this remarkable scholar, writer, survivor, and teacher.” Publishers Weekly

“This work demonstrates that Wiesel’s effectiveness as a life-changing teacher is a major part of his formidable legacy and presents valuable guidance for teachers seeking methods to approach difficult ethical issues in the classrooms.” Library Journal

“In highlighting Wiesel the teacher, Burger further elevates Wiesel the humanitarian. Readers will find their own preconceptions called into question, as though they were in class, too.” Booklist

“An insightful and winsome love letter—and, for newcomers to Wiesel, a good introduction.” Kirkus Reviews

“Witness is beautiful, and important…A superb piece of writing.” Parker Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach

Awards

  • Indie Next List
  • Publishers Lunch
  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • National Jewish Book Award
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