It’s not a binary choice between silent and strident

“What can I do” is a common question circling our collective conversations these days. From the bushfires, followed by Covid, followed by October 7, and all the wars and worries in between, there is a communal grappling of sorts, for wisdom, for guidance and for hope.

I met author and teacher Rabbi Dr Ariel Burger in 2019 at the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival, when he was on tour for his book, Witness - Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, which chronicles the intimate conversations between himself and Wiesel over their decades-long friendship of studying and teaching together.

Following the book’s positive reception, Burger and Wiesel’s son Elisha co-founded The Witness Institute, a project dedicated to continuing the work of Elie Wiesel to build a more moral world.

Burger returns to Australia this weekend to feature at SJWF. Reflecting on 2019, he says “he felt such a sense of resonance and connection” with Australian Jewry. “And given everything that's happening in the world and in the Jewish world, it also feels important to weave connections wherever possible and bring whatever I can to people who are carrying so much.”

“It feels like we're in semi-biblical times,” says Burger, when I tell him that it feels like the world is moving from one unprecedented event to another. “We're going through a lot of eruptions and convulsions of history, and I'm sure there's more to come,” he says. “So we need to be focusing on the core existential questions of who we are, how we operate, how we can evolve and grow together.