Elie Wiesel, author of widely acclaimed books on the Holocaust, Soviet Jewry, and Hasidic lore, called upon the Synagogue Council of America (SCA) last night to “reach out and make overtures” to Islam and Buddhism toward initiating a dialogue with these faiths.
Wiesel spoke to an audience of 500 leaders of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism assembled at an SCA dinner at the New York Hilton here. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D. N.Y.) presented him with the SCA’s Covenant of Peace Award at the event.
“During the last 20 years we have invested so much toward a rapprochement with Christianity that we neglect the other religions, ” which are becoming increasingly involved in international issues such as world peace, nuclear disarmament and economic dislocations, he said.
Conceding that communication with Moslems is difficult because Islam is so intertwined with Mideast polities, Wiesel nonetheless held that “there must be in the world of Islam some intellectuals, writers, teachers, professors, journalists — liberal — thinking Moslems who are not politically motivated but religiously inspired.”
Wiesel also told the audience that, 40 years after the Holocaust, “I hear such hate that it frightens me.” He called for vigilance against anti-Semitic outbreaks such as the remarks of Rev. Louis Farrakhan and the breaking of windows of Jewish-owned stores in Boro Park last weekend, as well as continued struggle for the rights of Soviet Jewry.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
