The Elie Wiesel Center hosts lectures, panel discussions, performances, and other programs for both Boston University and the larger community. Through these events, we hope to provide a space for education and community-building that honors the legacy of Elie Wiesel. Learn more about our events from the 2023-24 academic year below.
Elie Wiesel Memorial Lecture Series
This year’s Elie Wiesel Memorial Lecture Series, “Celebrating the Music of Elie Wiesel,” explored the music beloved by one of the world’s greatest humanitarians. Through two events, we delved into the profound connections between Elie Wiesel’s life, writings, and deep love for music.
9/27/23: “Song and Stories” with Dr. Henry Knight and Cantor Deborah Katchko Gray
The first event of this year’s series, Songs and Stories, featured Dr. Henry Knight and Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray. Dr. Knight, a close friend of Elie Wiesel, discussed the relationship between Wiesel’s writings and his music. Cantor Deborah explored the meaning of Hasidic tunes in spiritual life, which inspired Elie Wiesel, and presented clips of his songs. You can watch a recording of this program on our YouTube channel.
Fall 2023 Events
9/10/2023: The Writings of Elie Wiesel, The Paintings of Judith Zonis Listernick
On Sunday, September 10, we hosted a reading of selections from the writings of the Nobel laureate and former BU Professor Elie Wiesel in dialogue with the paintings of Judith Zonis Listernick (1934-2019). Dr. Samantha Baskind, Distinguished Professor of Art History at Cleveland State University and a specialist on Jewish art, and Rabbi Dr. Nehemia Polen, a former student of Elie Wiesel and Professor of Jewish thought at Hebrew College, read selections of Wiesel’s writing as the paintings were projected on a screen. The speakers then discussed the relationship between the texts and the paintings. Pianist and composer Brian Friedland played music based on niggunim, or traditional Jewish wordless melodies.
This event was co-sponsored by the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies and the Jewish Cultural Endowment and organized by Dr. Joan Listernick, the artist’s daughter and an instructor in French at Boston University. Watch the recording here.
9/21/23: Alumni Weekend: Conversations in Jewish Studies
As part of the university’s Alumni Weekend, all Boston University alumni were invited to the Center for an engaging event featuring talks by Professors Pnina Lahav and Steve Katz.
10/4/23: To What End? Fortifications along the Margins of the Hasmonean Kingdom
Professor Roi Sabar gave a brief presentation on new archaeological evidence for two fortresses in the Galilee whose locations, viewsheds, and chronology have the potential to clarify the line of—and rationale for—the kingdom’s northern margins. This was the first in a series of hybrid in-person/Zoom “brown bag meetings” devoted to examining the Hasmonean kingdom and its legacy.
12/13/23: Hanukkah Snack and Study Break
As we wrapped up the end of the fall semester, the Elie Wiesel Center invited students and staff to a study break with snacks, beverages, and a space for everyone to relax and study. All students were welcome, and faculty were invited to stop by and grab some delicious food from Milk Street Cafe.
Spring 2024 Events
1/29/24: Jewish Resistance and the Musicians of Terezin: Lessons for Our Time
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mark Ludwig, director of the Terezin Music Foundation, discussed how the music of Jewish composers in the Terezin concentration camp showed resistance against the Holocaust. The lecture explored important questions about the lessons that can be learned from Nazi propaganda while fighting against antisemitism today. The program included a short musical performance by Terezin Music Foundation Ensemble members. A recording of this event is available on our YouTube channel.
This event was sponsored by Boston University’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, AJC New England, and the Consulate General of Israel to New England, and supported by the Jewish Cultural Endowment of Boston University and BU Hillel.
1/31/24: Idumea and the Hasmoneans: Archaeological Perspectives
On January 31, Ian Stern from the University of Haifa and Débora Sandhaus from Ben Gurion University of the Negev presented at a hybrid event, “Idumea and the Hasmoneans: Archaeological Perspectives,” as part of the 2024 Maccabees Project Series, “From Rebels to Rulers: The Hasmoneans and their Kingdom.” For more information on the Maccabees Project, visit our website.
2/27/24: Beyond the Headlines: Rethinking Language, Gender, and Inclusivity in Israeli Journalism
Romy Neumark, a trailblazer in Israeli journalism, shared her story as a journalist, from her debut as a famous baby on television to her influential role as a senior anchor on Israeli main TV news. Romy discussed how she is pioneering gender-neutral Hebrew and bringing forward the voices of underrepresented communities in media. The BU Hebrew Program Department of World Languages and Literatures hosted and sponsored this event.
2/28/24: The Maccabees Project: The Coast and the Jezreel Valley in the Time of the Hasmoneans
As part of the Maccabees Project, Alexander Fantalkin (Tel Aviv University) and Matthew Adams (University of Hawai’i, Manoa) presented on the Mediterranean Coast and the Jezreel Valley in the time of the Hasmoneans. This lecture is part of the Maccabees Project’s ongoing series “From Rebels to Rulers: The Hasmoneans and their Kingdom.”
3/19/24: The Cost of Free Land: Discussion with Rebecca Clarren
On March 19th, award-winning journalist Rebecca Clarren shared archival photographs and stories about her Jewish ancestors who homesteaded on the South Dakota prairie and her family’s Lakota neighbors. Clarren’s new book The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota and an American Inheritance exposes the ways the United States privileged white immigrants at a high cost to Native Americans. The live stream recording of this event is now available on our YouTube channel.
4/4/24: Does Holocaust Education Prevent Antisemitism? with Dara Horn
The Elie Wiesel Center hosted Dara Horn, the award-winning author of six books, including the novels In the Image (Norton 2002), A Guide for the Perplexed (Norton 2013), and the essay collection People Love Dead Jews (Norton 2021). Dara Horn shared disturbing findings that undo our assumptions about the effects of teaching about the Holocaust while pointing us toward different ways of approaching the Jewish past and present.
This event was sponsored by the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in collaboration with the Leon and Alice F. Newton Family Lecture Fund, the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University, and the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies.
4/11/24: The Culture of Remembrance in Holocaust Perpetrator Countries with Hannah Lessing
Hannah Lessing, who has been responsible for the administrative and organizational management of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism since 1995 and the Fund for the Restoration of the Jewish cemeteries in Austria since 2010, shed light on the historical background of dealing with the Nazi past as well as the effects that continue to the present. She presented the work of the three funds she has managed and discussed experiences related to remembrance work.
4/17/24: Confronting Antisemitism: Historical Causes, Present Challenges, and Future Actions with Rabbi David Wolpe
On April 17, Rabbi David Wolpe, a respected voice in the Jewish community, offered insights into the roots of antisemitism, its current manifestations, and the steps we can take to combat it. Rabbi Wolpe explored the complexities of antisemitism and its impact on society today, including the intersection of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and how to address both without doing violence to the rights of free speech and open discourse. You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel.
5/1/24: End-Of-Year Celebration and Award Ceremony
As we wrapped up the spring semester at the Elie Wiesel Center, we honored this year’s graduates and presented awards and scholarships while enjoying snacks, drinks, and music.
