Books

Open Heart, by Elie Wiesel

Wiesel survived Auschwitz in his youth, but at 82 years of age he wondered whether he’d survive emergency bypass surgery. As with many experiencing a potentially life-threatening procedure, he used the occasion to reflect back over his life, drawing on the Jewish conviction that it is life that is sanctified, not death. Had he done enough to help spare the world another genocide? After surgery he pondered whether the experience had changed him. Would he refrain from certain acts and accomplish others differently in the future? “I believe that the answer is yes,” he concluded. The real questions, though—ones having to do with the Creator and his creation—have no answers. “Since God is, He is to be found in