Elie Wiesel and the Biblical Archetypes of the Contemporary Middle East

Abstract

This article focuses on two newspaper advertisements written by the Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel that were published shortly before his death in 2016. These controversial advertisements, published in the US and UK, addressed recent tensions in the Middle East with reference to the books of 2 Kings and Esther. The article explores Wiesel’s relationship to contemporary politics, traditions of biblical interpretation, and ideas of sacred temporality. I argue that these advertisements present a vivid case study of the potential difficulties posed by framing contemporary conflicts via biblical archetypes. Specifically, I suggest that they challenge us to develop an awareness of instances in which biblical reception can mythologize suffering by subsuming novel and complex events into premeditated narratives.