Elie Wiesel's Unio Mystica

Often the mystic is not aware, at least initially, of the revolutionary quality of his vision and interpretation. The nature of his experience, incommunicable, indistinct, defies translation, unlike that of a prophet, who conveys a clear message. The unio mystica is a profoundly personal emotion, but once felt it can no longer be forgotten or denied. To the outsider, however, the result of this radical transformation appears akin to madness. The mystic claims to be above authority, he seeks to establish his own system based on this revelation. (Lamont 130-31)
Wiesel is, therefore, interested in exploring this type of madness, the mystical rather than the clinical madness. As noted early in this paper, Wiesel describes the difference between the two: “A clinical madman isolates himself and others, while a mystical one wants to bring the Messiah” (Artist as Witness 189). Wiesel further argues that
The distinction between the two concepts is very thin and only a few people who have acquired high levels of intellectual knowledge can know the differences between the two. Elie Wiesel was truly a magnificent writer who brought the two concepts to the mind of the reader in incredible stories about the madness of our life. He has shown the struggle of being a survivor and a “mad” witness of the horror and atrocities of the Nazi regime. Maimonides’ philosophy on prophecy illuminates several aspects related to true and mad prophets. His methods, views, and degrees of prophecy for distinguishing prophets from madmen is applicable to contemporary thought. When reading Night through Twilight, with all the powerful insights about the Holocaust and the war, these stories still leave the reader frustrated and with questions about the reality and truth of life. These four stories complete the circle of a day; Night slowly vanishes into Dawn; Day eventually ends into