Sages and Dreamers: Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Portraits and Legends

by Elie Wiesel

Twenty-five portraits of figures from the Jewish tradition explore the mysteries of Jewish existence and themes of humility, silence, loyalty, and truth, and feature Esther, Noah, Daniel, Ruth, and others

Genres: Jewish, History, Judaica, Religion, Judaism, Nonfiction

443 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Eliezer "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.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sep 27, 1145am ~~ Absolutely fascinating. Review asap.

Sep 30, 1030am ~~ After rereading the novels of Chaim Potok earlier this year, I was curious to learn more about the wise men that play such a large part in those books and in the Jewish faith. I chose this book because I recognized the author's name; and the title made me think I would learn at least a little bit of what I wanted to know.

I learned that and much more! The book was fascinating, as I said when I first finished a few days ago. It is one of those books that creates a mental block in me when trying to write about it. There is so much I want to say, but at the same time so much that I cannot put into words.

Even now, a few days after closing the book, I am pretty much speechless. I admire the scholarship, I found the writing to be easily understood but at the same time I needed to pay attention. This is not a book to be absorbed by osmosis. I will want to read it again someday; maybe then I can get my thoughts unstuck and talk about it better than I can now.

I guess all I really want to say at the moment is 'Wow', so I will just leave it at that.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educational, historically sound, and spiritually questioning but faithful in the traditional Wiesel style. Really enjoyed his discussion of Ruth, Ezekiel, Shammai v Hillel, and Elisha ben Abouya in particular. Hasidic Tradition section was lacking to me, also had no discussion of the Besht at all. Even though I know Wiesel covers him in depth in other books, having a mention here would have been appropriate. Good one and worth a read for anyone interested in an overview of big names in Biblical and early Rabbinic Judaism, for Hasidism look elsewhere.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading a book like this is simultaneously illuminating and alienating.  To be sure, the author probably wrote this book for a Jewish audience, to better acquaint them with their own lengthy history and some of the more intriguing and thought-provoking aspects of that complex culture.  Even more specifically, the book was probably written for the descendents of Hasidim, because the author has some unkind things to say about mitdagdim that would make this book less than pleasant for someone who opposed Hasidic Judaism, and the book is certainly not written in a way that is likely to appeal to even those Christians who are generally knowledgeable about and at least somewhat sympathetic to Judaism.  Again, therefore, as is often the case, I read this book as someone who is not part of the book's intended audience, and as the author did not write for me, he makes no concessions or even shows any awareness of my own particular worldview, and in a book like this, that matters a lot.  It is illuminating to read a book like this one where the author shows his own interpretations and perspective, but this is not a book that was enjoyable to read in terms of its content or approach.

The book is a bit less than 450 pages long, and is divided into three sections.  The first part of the book contains the author's commentary on various stories of the Bible, including Noah, Jephthah and his daughter, Ruth, Solomon, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, and Esther.  This is the best part of the book, without a doubt, but even here the author sees the Bible through the dubious (at best) point of view of the Midrash as well as the point of view of the Zohar and the Talmud, which is even less to be trusted.  And if this part of the book is dubious, the rest is far more so, as the bulk of the book contains discussions of various Talmudic tales about Shammai and Hillel, various rabbis famous (Akiba, Ishmael) and obscure (Meir and his wife Brurya), all of which presupposes that the reader has any interest in talmudic reasoning or in the bogus and illegitimate approach that these "sages" had to the scriptures.  The last part of the book contains the author's discussion of various Hasidic sages, which was of very little interest to me because my own family's Jewish background does not include any Hasidim, but only Dutch and Sephardic Jews who left Europe in the 1700's before the Hasidic movement even got started.

This book, therefore, was not of particular use to me, except in understanding how it is that Jews and Christians, even those Christians who take the Hebrew scriptures seriously, are divided in part by a common text and even more so by wildly different rules of interpretation.  Wiesel is of the misguided belief that those who oppose the Talmud do so because they fear it, while he views those who oppose Hasidic thinking as being antisocial intellectuals.  Wiesel, for someone who opposed prejudice, appears to be a highly prejudiced person here, against anyone who would oppose his own narrow and partisan interpretation of what is legitimate.  Perhaps this book was not meant to be read by those outside of his own identity, and it makes for an unpleasant read for those who are opposed to the author's occult interest in esoteric texts like the Zohar and who do not share his particular identity as a descendant of various decadent hasidic dynasties.  Still, fortunately for him, few people like myself are likely to be pick up a book like this, much less get through it.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging and informative profiles of some of the great sages of Jewish history. Under Wiesel's pen, these Talmudic personalities live again and show us the lessons of their lives. Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to think of these wise men (and a few women) in new ways.

[Matthew Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed the second half on various sages and rabbis from midrashic and Talmudic stories. It reminded me of Wiesel's book Messengers if God

[Harry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sages and Dreamers is a collection of biographies in three parts. The first two, Bible and Talmud, examines Torah personalities through the lens of Talmud and Midrash. Weisel brings and wealth of knowledge and is often critical of his subjects.
The author professes a partiality toward Chasidut, and this is reflected in the essays on Chassidic rebbes. I found this last part difficult to read due to the other-worldly description, some taken from Weisel's previous book, Souls on Fire.

[Rachelklara of YHVH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pages 65-79, 99-114, 133-151.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Wiesel describes the difference in heroics of the Bible as belief and action, whereas Talmudic heroism is more about a shift in spiritual attitude. They work on their own spiritual development for the sake of others. Can action be seen as an extension of prayer and contemplation?

Solomon is lucky and original.

"Is it possible, is it true, that often, if not always, a son's wish is to destroy or kill his father, or at least the father figure that dominates his adolescence?" (66)

No. Purim is a celebration of memory.

"Everything in the tale seems exciting and glorious. The good are the best, the wicked the worst. The just are rewarded, their enemies punished. I read Esther and felt reassured." (135)

"The angel will win." (112)

"Is that God's reply?" (114)

"No longer in need of magicians to reveal his own dream, he needs them only to elucidate its meaning." (106)

"A hero is someone who both acts on events and provokes them." (182)