André Neher

André Neher (22 October 1914 – 23 October 1988) was a Jewish scholar and philosopher, born 12, rue du Marché, in Obernai, Bas-Rhin. He was a student at the Collège Freppel in Obernai, then at the Lycée Fustel de Coulange in Strasbourg. He became professor at the Collège Erckmann-Chatrian in Phalsbourg, then at the Lycée Kléber in Strasbourg. During World War II, he lived in Brive-la-Gaillarde, where he was a member of Rabbi David Feuerwerker's community. After the War, he became a professor at the University of Strasbourg, before moving with his wife, Renée Neher-Bernheim, to Jerusalem, Israel.

His masterpiece is The Exile of the Word (L'Exil de la Parole. Du silence biblique au silence d'Auschwitz, Ed.: Seuil, 1970), about the biblical silence, and God’s silence after the Shoah and the great world tragedies. Neher thinks that through the Bible's silence one can discover divine revelation; through the silence human freedom is possible. He draws on the image of a suspension bridge to describe human “ontological insecurity and pain” caused by this freedom, which is characterized by a “radical factor of uncertainty”. For this reason it is necessary to concentrate our attention not on the ideas of redemption or salvation, but on “being here in our life”.

L'espoir n'est pas dans le rire et dans la plénitude.
L'espoir est dans les larmes, dans le risque et dans leur silence

Hope is not in the laugh or fullness.
Hope is in the tears, in the risk and in their silence

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