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Quote by Elie Wiesel

“There are real people behind the [Bible] stories.”

Quote by Elie Wiesel

Author

A renowned Jewish author and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Elie Wiesel is known for his profound literary achievements and for recording and spreading the history of the Holocaust as a survivor. His works deeply reveal the terror of the Nazi Holocaust and the universal nature of human suffering. more

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“The story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac are nowhere in any other tradition.”

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“If you make a determination that [story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac] is not historical, do you throw it away? I don't think we can say whether it's precisely, scientifically historical.”

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“Christians call it the "Sacrifice of Isaac," and Jews call it the "Binding of Isaac."”

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“I think [Sacrifice of Isaac] is the most important event in the Bible except for Sinai.”

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“Everything is in it: the promise and the hope and the fear and the challenge and the defiance. The test is a double test: Just as God tested Abraham, Abraham tested God: "Let's see if you really want me to go ahead with it and kill my son." Then the angel says, "Do not raise your hand against the boy" [Genesis 22:12]. It was the Angel of God who says this, not God. God was embarrassed. [All laugh]”

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“Abraham is trying to obey God, but not to kill. I feel that moment is one of the defining moments of Jewish faith.”

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“[Sacrifice of Isaac] is a major theme of the so-called Elohist [one authorial strand in the Pentateuch]. It is marked by all of his linguistic characteristics, and so on. We cannot determine what is historical and what isn't. As literary critics, we would understand the importance of this for understanding life, destiny. But the historical question must be left with a question mark.”

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“The story [of the Sacrifice of Isaac ] is much more a part of theology than of history.”

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“For the purpose of my life, I don't ask the question. First of all, I believe. I think the Five Books of Moses are inspired. Call it divine. I don't know. But I would certainly call it inspired.”

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“If one attempts to achieve deity or to have the holy, he is thrown back; he is refused. His language is taken from him. He can no longer even communicate. That's the Tower of Babel.”

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