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Five Biblical Portraits
Five Biblical Portraits is a sequel to Elie Weisel's Messengers of God ; in this work Wiesel enhances his well-known skill in bringing ancient religious figures to literary life with his stories Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Wiesel illuminates Joshua, Saul, Elijah, Jeremiah, and Jonah through sensitive readings of the scriptures as well as the Talmudic and Hasidic sources. As a sequel to his book, Messengers of God , this work brings ancient religious figures to literary life and emphasizes the personal struggles within the awesome missions of these men.
157 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1981
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2135 people want to read
About the author
Elie Wiesel
274 books4,547 followersEliezer "Elie" Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
In his political activities Wiesel became a regular speaker on the subject of the Holocaust and remained a strong defender of human rights during his lifetime. He also advocated for many other causes like the state of Israel and against Hamas and victims of oppression including Soviet and Ethiopian Jews, the apartheid in South Africa, the Bosnian genocide, Sudan, the Kurds and the Armenian genocide, Argentina's Desaparecidos or Nicaragua's Miskito people.
He was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He was involved with Jewish causes and human rights causes and helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiesel was awarded various prestigious awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
In his political activities Wiesel became a regular speaker on the subject of the Holocaust and remained a strong defender of human rights during his lifetime. He also advocated for many other causes like the state of Israel and against Hamas and victims of oppression including Soviet and Ethiopian Jews, the apartheid in South Africa, the Bosnian genocide, Sudan, the Kurds and the Armenian genocide, Argentina's Desaparecidos or Nicaragua's Miskito people.
He was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He was involved with Jewish causes and human rights causes and helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiesel was awarded various prestigious awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 6, 2023
I read Five Biblical Portraits because I'm interested in what Elie Wiesel had to say about the Bible. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. I have to say that I'm not overly fond of any of the Biblical personages in this book.
For my complete review see https://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2...
For my complete review see https://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2...
June 24, 2021
This is a wonderful series of portraits of characters from the Hebrew Scriptures: Saul, Elijah, Jonah, Jeremiah and Joshua. Weisel’s great gift is in humanizing these people, filling in the nooks and crannies of fears, hopes, justifications, sins, insecurities, and prophetic powers. He refuses to dwell upon sentimentalities, cliches, or pedestals, but rather fleshes out individuals who can often be read as two dimensional. In the best tradition of Jewish argumentative exegesis, Weisel often portrays these characters in contrasting terms that can appear at first to be contradictory. But who among us contains no contradictions? No mixed motives? I can’t agree with everything Weisel suggests about them, but I don’t think I am meant to. Weisel challenges us to look at these characters - and at the story they are in, and indeed at Israel and at God - with fresh eyes. And he succeeds.
November 17, 2024
Five Biblical Portraits
The Bible tells stories about many men and women to delight readers, inspire them to act as God desires, help them learn from the lives described, and improve themselves and all of creation.
Many commentaries were composed to highlight and explain the messages of the tales. In Five Biblical Portraits, Elie Wiesel describes the lives and activities of five men mentioned in the Tanakh, the Hebrew name for the Bible. The term is composed of the opening letters of the three collections of books in the Hebrew Bible: Torah. Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
Elie Wiesel (1928-2016), a Romanian-born American writer, professor, and political activist, received many awards for his 57 books, primarily written in French and English. He received the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal, among his other honors.
When he was fifteen years old, the Nazis kidnapped him and his family and deported them to the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. His mother and younger sister were murdered in gas chambers on the night of their arrival. He and his father were deported to Buchenwald, where his father died before the camp was liberated on April 11, 1945.
He is best known for his first book, Night, in which he tells the horrible experiences he encountered during the Holocaust. However, the brilliant author, who not only deserved the Nobel Peace Prize but also deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature, was also an advocate for peace for all people. He also wrote about the lessons derived from Hasidic teachings, as in the book Souls on Fire, and what we can derive from the Bible, as in this volume. These lessons, if learned, understood, and practiced, would ensure that horrors such as what occurred in the Holocaust would not be repeated.
Five Biblical Portraits is a new 2023 edition of the previously published 1981 popular edition. It contains a new 32-page introduction by Ariel Burger, which, among many other things, reveals Elie Wiesel's paramount thinking. Burger knew Wiesel well. He attended his classes in 1996 and served as his teaching fellow from 2003 to 2008. He tells us that Wiesel once ended a class lecture, saying, “When it is time for me to come before the heavenly tribunal, I will ask God my question. It will consist of one word: Why.” Burger comments, “This emphatic, passionate “Why?” lies behind Wiesel’s reading of biblical tales.”
Burger also writes that Wiesel was convinced that the power of literature lies in its ability to galvanize human action. This includes the Bible. “The text is not – cannot be – neutral, nor is it an end in itself: it must serve to humanize our society.”
Wiesel shows this in his discussions of Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah's lives and actions.
He informs us that although Joshua led a successful battle during the lifetime of Moses, he was not confident after his teacher’s death. The book of Joshua begins with God encouraging him to be strong. We read how he lost a battle when he led the Israelites into Canaan, but he learned from his mistake and was successful when he fought the next time. We also read about his goal to have the Israelites conquer all of Canaan, but he failed to do so. (We are reminded of the advice of Rabbi Tarfon in Pirkei Avot 2:21, “It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work. But you are not free to desist from it.”)
He mentions the dispute among scholars about whether God was satisfied with Elijah’s activities and gives his view that God was delighted. He notes that many see a marked difference between the depiction of Elijah in the Bible and the ones we see in the many legends about how he helped people after his death. Elijah is the most famous of all prophets. One legend says he will return to earth and announce the messiah's arrival. Wiesel tells many of these legends and reveals much we can learn about proper behaviors and Jewish law. An example of the latter is the tale of a dispute between a single rabbi and most of his colleagues, with God taking the side of the lone rabbi. The rabbis disregarded God’s view, saying Jewish law is decided on earth by a majority. One of the many rabbis met the legendary Elijah and asked him how God reacted. Elijah responded, “God said, Natzchuni banai – ‘My children have defeated Me.’” Wiesel adds, “I would prefer to change the punctuation, “Please, children, defeat Me!” God loves to be defeated by His children – but only in debates.”
Wiesel is bothered by how the Bible depicts King Saul. Saul was Israel’s first king and was followed by King David. In many ways, he sees Saul as being better than David. He never dreamed of being a king. God chose him for a task he did not seek. He told Samuel, who appointed him a king, that he did not deserve this honor. Saul’s failures fascinate us. David has many wives; Saul only has one. David marches behind his troops while Saul leads them in battle. David committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed; Saul’s crime was that he sought a sorcerous to bring Samuel up from the dead to give him advice. Samuel rebukes Saul for not killing King Agag. Is Sanuel correct that this act of kindness shows he is unfit to be a king? What does his life teach us?
We are shown the prophet Jeremiah as a man searching for truth. He was born in 645 BCE and began involving himself in public affairs at age twenty-two. He spent more than a decade in prison for his activities. The word “falsehood” appears seventy-two times in biblical literature, half in the Book of Jeremiah. He alone predicted a catastrophe, the destruction of the Jewish state in 586 BCE, experienced it, and lived to tell the tale. He alone sounded the alarm before the fire and, after being singed by its flames, went on to retell it to any who would listen. But people ignored what he said while he was alive, but they listen today. We use his words to describe our struggles.
The prophet Jonah is unusual. He argued with God not to save the people of the city of Nineveh, a city of non-Jews, but to punish them. Why? We read his story at the most solemn moment of the Fast Day, the Holy Day of Yom Kippur. Why? We read his fantastic story, and it moves us to think. Why? Is it about repentance or free choice or the need to think of helping not only Jews but all people? Jonah sits under a plant that shades him as he broods that Nineveh is saved. God kills the plant. Jonah weeps for the dead plant. The Book of Jonah ends with God’s question to Jonah, “You feel sorry for the plant, and you want Me not to feel sorry for Nineveh and its people and its animal?” Jonah does not respond. Isn’t it true that we, too, are not responding?
Like all of us, the five men Wiesel described had severe problems, for life is complicated. But each of them made it into the Bible. Perhaps this teaches us that we, too, can succeed somehow.
The Bible tells stories about many men and women to delight readers, inspire them to act as God desires, help them learn from the lives described, and improve themselves and all of creation.
Many commentaries were composed to highlight and explain the messages of the tales. In Five Biblical Portraits, Elie Wiesel describes the lives and activities of five men mentioned in the Tanakh, the Hebrew name for the Bible. The term is composed of the opening letters of the three collections of books in the Hebrew Bible: Torah. Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
Elie Wiesel (1928-2016), a Romanian-born American writer, professor, and political activist, received many awards for his 57 books, primarily written in French and English. He received the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal, among his other honors.
When he was fifteen years old, the Nazis kidnapped him and his family and deported them to the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. His mother and younger sister were murdered in gas chambers on the night of their arrival. He and his father were deported to Buchenwald, where his father died before the camp was liberated on April 11, 1945.
He is best known for his first book, Night, in which he tells the horrible experiences he encountered during the Holocaust. However, the brilliant author, who not only deserved the Nobel Peace Prize but also deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature, was also an advocate for peace for all people. He also wrote about the lessons derived from Hasidic teachings, as in the book Souls on Fire, and what we can derive from the Bible, as in this volume. These lessons, if learned, understood, and practiced, would ensure that horrors such as what occurred in the Holocaust would not be repeated.
Five Biblical Portraits is a new 2023 edition of the previously published 1981 popular edition. It contains a new 32-page introduction by Ariel Burger, which, among many other things, reveals Elie Wiesel's paramount thinking. Burger knew Wiesel well. He attended his classes in 1996 and served as his teaching fellow from 2003 to 2008. He tells us that Wiesel once ended a class lecture, saying, “When it is time for me to come before the heavenly tribunal, I will ask God my question. It will consist of one word: Why.” Burger comments, “This emphatic, passionate “Why?” lies behind Wiesel’s reading of biblical tales.”
Burger also writes that Wiesel was convinced that the power of literature lies in its ability to galvanize human action. This includes the Bible. “The text is not – cannot be – neutral, nor is it an end in itself: it must serve to humanize our society.”
Wiesel shows this in his discussions of Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah's lives and actions.
He informs us that although Joshua led a successful battle during the lifetime of Moses, he was not confident after his teacher’s death. The book of Joshua begins with God encouraging him to be strong. We read how he lost a battle when he led the Israelites into Canaan, but he learned from his mistake and was successful when he fought the next time. We also read about his goal to have the Israelites conquer all of Canaan, but he failed to do so. (We are reminded of the advice of Rabbi Tarfon in Pirkei Avot 2:21, “It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work. But you are not free to desist from it.”)
He mentions the dispute among scholars about whether God was satisfied with Elijah’s activities and gives his view that God was delighted. He notes that many see a marked difference between the depiction of Elijah in the Bible and the ones we see in the many legends about how he helped people after his death. Elijah is the most famous of all prophets. One legend says he will return to earth and announce the messiah's arrival. Wiesel tells many of these legends and reveals much we can learn about proper behaviors and Jewish law. An example of the latter is the tale of a dispute between a single rabbi and most of his colleagues, with God taking the side of the lone rabbi. The rabbis disregarded God’s view, saying Jewish law is decided on earth by a majority. One of the many rabbis met the legendary Elijah and asked him how God reacted. Elijah responded, “God said, Natzchuni banai – ‘My children have defeated Me.’” Wiesel adds, “I would prefer to change the punctuation, “Please, children, defeat Me!” God loves to be defeated by His children – but only in debates.”
Wiesel is bothered by how the Bible depicts King Saul. Saul was Israel’s first king and was followed by King David. In many ways, he sees Saul as being better than David. He never dreamed of being a king. God chose him for a task he did not seek. He told Samuel, who appointed him a king, that he did not deserve this honor. Saul’s failures fascinate us. David has many wives; Saul only has one. David marches behind his troops while Saul leads them in battle. David committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed; Saul’s crime was that he sought a sorcerous to bring Samuel up from the dead to give him advice. Samuel rebukes Saul for not killing King Agag. Is Sanuel correct that this act of kindness shows he is unfit to be a king? What does his life teach us?
We are shown the prophet Jeremiah as a man searching for truth. He was born in 645 BCE and began involving himself in public affairs at age twenty-two. He spent more than a decade in prison for his activities. The word “falsehood” appears seventy-two times in biblical literature, half in the Book of Jeremiah. He alone predicted a catastrophe, the destruction of the Jewish state in 586 BCE, experienced it, and lived to tell the tale. He alone sounded the alarm before the fire and, after being singed by its flames, went on to retell it to any who would listen. But people ignored what he said while he was alive, but they listen today. We use his words to describe our struggles.
The prophet Jonah is unusual. He argued with God not to save the people of the city of Nineveh, a city of non-Jews, but to punish them. Why? We read his story at the most solemn moment of the Fast Day, the Holy Day of Yom Kippur. Why? We read his fantastic story, and it moves us to think. Why? Is it about repentance or free choice or the need to think of helping not only Jews but all people? Jonah sits under a plant that shades him as he broods that Nineveh is saved. God kills the plant. Jonah weeps for the dead plant. The Book of Jonah ends with God’s question to Jonah, “You feel sorry for the plant, and you want Me not to feel sorry for Nineveh and its people and its animal?” Jonah does not respond. Isn’t it true that we, too, are not responding?
Like all of us, the five men Wiesel described had severe problems, for life is complicated. But each of them made it into the Bible. Perhaps this teaches us that we, too, can succeed somehow.
June 15, 2017
This short book was quite interesting. The author's questions urge the reader to do a lot of critical thinking. I was glad to also read Wiesel's selections from the midrash (Hebrew commentary). All in all, as a Christian and a lover of Old Testament characters, I was glad to read viewpoints of a critically acclaimed Jewish author.
July 24, 2024
Wiesel writing about prophets is ironic and appropriate. If he wasn't a prophet himself, then he was at least an oracle. Cut from similar cloth as James Baldwin. Shaped by long held hatred of previous centuries and modern society, he saw what was and what could be and tried like hell to believe in the best of people even when living through the worst man-made situation, second only to slavery.
His language is simple, his thinking is profound.
His language is simple, his thinking is profound.
March 14, 2025
increíble y Fantástico
Elie Wiesel Z’L
Lee y relee ,
Estudia y analiza que hay en el fondo de cada texto relacionado con personajes que D-os nos muestra su amor a la humanidad.
Excelente aprendizaje.
Elie Wiesel Z’L
Lee y relee ,
Estudia y analiza que hay en el fondo de cada texto relacionado con personajes que D-os nos muestra su amor a la humanidad.
Excelente aprendizaje.
September 27, 2025
Very interesting prospective and makes you think.
April 14, 2010
Excellent--nearly every word feels like it may explode with significance, so carefully packed and crafted in its larger context. Wiesel is a master.
Read
August 19, 2012Lends a human perspective to these legendary figures. Intriguingly historical and contemporary - timeless. I found the Jonah chapter especially thought-provoking.
July 17, 2015
Very interesting perspectives from a man who's earned the right to critically examine faith and biblical texts.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews