Nobel Peace Prize–winner Elie Wiesel brings ancient religious leaders to literary life, framing his commentary with pressing and enduring questions as a survivor and witness to the Holocaust. Five Biblical Portraits represents an old-new approach to Jewish textual commentary. This sequel to Elie Wiesel’s Messengers of God continues the work done in that volume of bringing religious figures to life and studying their place both in the text and in our lives. Wiesel reflects on his own life as well as the tragedy of the Holocaust as he discusses each figure and adds personal framing and insight into the religious study. Through sensitive readings of the scriptures as well as the Talmudic and Hasidic sources, Wiesel illuminates Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah. He seeks not simple answers but fully complex responses to the crucial questions of human suffering as he examines each religious figure in turn. Originally published in 1981, this new edition of Five Biblical Portraits includes a new text design, cover, and an introduction by Ariel Burger, which examines how Wiesel’s post-Holocaust Midrash teaches us not only how to read the Bible but also how to read the world.

Illuminates the stories of five major figures in Jewish history, giving us their humanity in mysterious and fascinating complexity.

Originally published: New York: Random House, Ã1976.

Reflections by the Nobel-winning philosopher and novelist on the prophets, scribes, and rebbes who comprise the histories and myths of Jewish folklore. Most of these essays were originally given as lectures at the 92nd Street Y in New York, and even in written form they preserve the tone and tempo of extemporary speech. The style is anecdotal rather than scholarly, and Wiesel does not hesitate to bring his opinions to bear.

This inspiring book expresses the freshness and authority of Scripture through calligraphy and offers powerfully rendered verses from Genesis to Revelation combined with wise and practical insights and prayers.

The characters and heroes of the Bible are some of the best known in all of history. We encounter them again and again, in art, literature, and folklore. Yet these Biblical men and women remain among the most elusive, enigmatic and least understood of any heroes. Biblical Images, a collection of twenty-five portraits of Biblical figures, explores what is hinted at in the Scriptures to help us understand these characters from within, to analyze their motives, and to appreciate their spiritual experiences and aspirations. It is a subtle yet penetrating study of men and women of the Bible who personify profound truths about the human experience. Book jacket.