Christians call it the "Sacrifice of Isaac," and Jews call it the "Binding of Isaac."

Nevertheless, we are led to believe that true words can communicate more than truth, they communicate what life is all about, that it's threatened, when it's threatened, when it's in danger, then it becomes a curse or a blessing.

Whoever survives a test, whatever it may be, must tell the story. That is his duty.

Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.

Suffering pulls us farther away from other human beings. It builds a wall made of cries and contempt to separate us.

I have an open mind - - I read, I study, I study your work and the work of other people with less talent. But that is not what I do in my writing and teaching. Still the love for the text we have in common.

At Auschwitz, not only man died, but also the idea of man. To live in a world where there is nothing anymore, where the executioner acts as god, as judge-many wanted no part of it. It was its own heart the world incinerated at Auschwitz.