I recently completed producing a documentary film which filled my daily life with great meaning. The film Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire is infused with the words of Elie in his own voice, and those words have lived inside me these past several years. I’ve tried to embrace their philosophy, which I think is very appropriate for Elul contemplation. One key phrase of Elie Wiesel’s that stands out, is in his description of Holocaust survivors. He says of them, and I infer to many others who have gone through hell in their lives, that “suffering confers no privileges”. I find it remarkable that a holocaust survivor who at age 16 saw his mother and his beloved baby sister for the last time, and then after a brutal forced march from Auschwitz to Buchenwald, witnessed his father’s passing in guilt-ridden silence. And still he could say that “suffering confers no privileges”. Elie goes on to say that “this is why survivors try to teach their contemporaries to have hope in a world that offers none,” again remarkable words for someone who witnessed what Elie witnessed. And we in fact, are continuing to learn the harsh lesson, that suffering in our world confers no privileges. (In fact suffering only seems to confer more suffering.) The remarkable fact of Elie’s life, is that Elie did in fact spend his time teaching others that Davka, in spite of the world’s cruelty, we must embrace hope for the future.
Is there any more urgent message for all of us today, as we fear turning on the news or reading the newspaper? For good reason there is a shortage of hope, “and yet” as Elie was fond of saying, we must seek hope or create it out of thin air. This is the message that the film I directed tries to convey – suggesting that such hope is in fact possible. Please look at the trailer below, as the images and voice convey the message much better than I can.
And please come see the film, which I believe is suffused with hope and is in itself a true Elul meditation. Consider joining Ansche Chesed members this Sunday, September 7 at 2:10pm for a screening followed by a Q & A with me and co-producer and Holocaust film scholar Annette Insdorf at the IFC.
