In the future, the world is going to hear a great deal more about the Holocaust as a temporal eligion - or, better, as a Cult of Death. Here is a nice little introduction excerpt from Rabbi Michael Goldberg's book, "Why Should Jews Survive", Oxford University Press: New York, 1995, p. 59]:
The Chapter is titled "The Holocaust Cult", and the target is none other than the man with the perpetual hangdog expression, Mr. Elie Wiesel":
In ancient times, the cultic shrine was superintended by priests. Local shrines had local priests while national shrines, for example, the Temple in Jerusalem, had high priests. Without doubt, the Holocaust cult's High Priest is Elie Wiesel. His blessing is sought for every Holocaust museum and memorial, from the local _bamot_ to the central _hechal_ in Washington. Whether his name appears on a letterhead or whether he himself appears at a dedication, any effort to consecrate a site as a Holocaust memorial is almost unthinkable without at least his tacit approval. And like his predecessors in the Temple of old, Wiesel has found that being High Priest is not without its benefits. Lionized by Jews and non-Jews alike, he can command five-figure fees for his speaking engagements, to which he has been known to fly by private plane. He is a man whose honors have ranged from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize to throwing out the first ball at a World Series game. As if to underscore the apparent incongruity between his sorrowful-survivor public persona and his comfortable, prosperous private life, an article in Moment magazine asked puckishly, "Is Elie Wiesel Happy?" [56]
Of course, the office of High Priest has its limitations, too. The High Priest, almost by definition, can never question the value of the cult. Hence, Wiesel has never publicly questioned the wisdom of spending $167 million on the U.S. Holocaust Museum, although it could be argued that spending even half that much on scholarships to Jewish day schools would be a better way of reverencing the cult's great god, Jewish survival. [57] Nor has Wiesel ever publicly preached the cult's core gospel--"No silence ever again in the face of evil!"--to some of those who need to hear it most. Jews who stood by and said nothing as PaIestinians during the _intifada_ were beaten,, tortured, and worse." [58] Counted among those Jewish bystanders were some of the cult's most ardent supporters, both inside Israel and out, for whom a word or two from their High Priest might have made a difference.
It simply may be too much to expect priests to confront their cult's rationale and practice. In ancient times, the priest was balanced by another religious figure, the prophet. In a sense, the prophet's role was remedial storytelling. By reminding Israel of its story, he reminded both priest and people that the object of veneration was neither the cult nor the community, but God--and God alone. Civil Judaism has its shrines, and it has its priests. But it has no prophets to remind it of a master story with a God beyond itself.
Notes:
56. Yosef I. Abramowitz, "Is Elie Wiesel Happy?" _Moment_, February 1994, 32-37, 78.
57. For another interesting challenge to the wisdom of building yet one more Holocaust shrine, see Howard Husock's essay, "A Testament to the Diaspora," proposing a museum celebrating American Jewish life. _New York Newsday_, 19 September, 1994.
58. Unpardonable acts such as these were well documented by a true worshipper at the altar of human rights, Amnesty International; see Chapter 6.
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Thought for the Day:
The Stranger within my gate,
He may be true or kind,
But he does not talk my talk --
I cannot feel his mind.
Kipling