Richard Ben-Veniste and
Abraham Foxman |
Richard
Holbrooke and Elie Wiesel |
Tom
Brokaw, Richard Holbrooke,
Elie Wiesel and Kofi Annan |
ANTI-DEFAMATION
LEAGUE
Wiesel
Spends Lifetime
Searching For Words
 OM
BROKAW, the NBC news anchor, said he’s
“your Shabbos goy for the evening” as he welcomed 400
black-tie guests to Elie Wiesel’s 75th
birthday party in May at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria.
Actually, Wiesel was born
on September 30, but we won’t quibble with the Anti-Defamation
League, which sponsored the celebration for the Nobel Peace
laureate.
Sen. Hillary Clinton
said the fight against anti-Semitism goes on every day and “we
need eloquent fighters like Elie Wiesel.”
Former UN Ambassador Richard
Holbrooke recalled a day in 1995 when heads of state gathered
to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation
of Auschwitz.
The European leaders
wanted to universalize “the world’s most infamous killing
fields,” but Wiesel protested that the truth must be told:
“the death camp was built solely to annihilate the Jewish
people.”
Poland’s Lech Walesa
was perplexed, but came around in support of Wiesel.
“I cannot imagine the
world understanding the Holocaust without Elie Wiesel,”
Holbrooke said.
UN secretary general Kofi
Annan said, “Elie, the world needs you to speak out.” And
ADL national director Abraham Foxman added, “Elie, you
have given voice and continuity to a million and a half children
who were murdered.”
For his part Wiesel said
he spent a lifetime searching for the right words.
Conductor Matthew
Lazar got Wiesel on stage to join the Zamir Chorale. The
world’s most famous Holocaust survivor sang to a hushed audience
his people’s song of hope, Ani Maamin (“I believe in
the coming of Moshiach”).
Brokaw spoke for all the
guests, including Gen. Wesley Clark, Ted Koppel, Bush
campaign officer Ralph Reed and Kerry campaign officer Cam
Kerry, when he said, “That was very moving.”
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