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The Emil & Jetty Erster Fund, in memory of Marion’s parents, will protect the legacy Marion built and worked so hard to preserve. The new fund will be dedicated to supporting the education of Ethiopian-Israeli immigrant children and families through the Beit Tzipora Centers and provide opportunities for them to participate, and advance, in Israeli society.

In 1996 Marion and Elie Wiesel, created the Elie Wiesel Foundation, after winning the Nobel Prize for Peace. With the Foundation’s mission in mind to combat indifference, intolerance, and injustice, the Beit Tzipora Centers were established in the mid-1990s at the height of Aliyah, when Ethiopian Jews fled the violence of Africa to Israel to support refugee children. The centers are now managed by our trusted partners at WIZO (the Women’s International Zionist Organization) and provide educational services and enrichment programs to over 700 children annually. Since their founding, thousands of children ages 6-16 have participated in Beit Tzipora programs. We are grateful to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach for having brought our organizations together to provide educational opportunities in our beloved Israel.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

Elie Wiesel and his wife, Marion, established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity soon after he was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for Peace. The Foundation’s mission, rooted in the memory of the Holocaust, is to combat indifference, intolerance, and injustice through international dialogue and youth-focused programs that promote acceptance, understanding, and equality.
Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO)

Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO)

WIZO is the main agent for change for women, children, and youth in Israel.

WIZO is the largest social welfare provider in Israel. Working in partnership with government and municipal agencies, WIZO’s 800 projects offer educational and social services for children, women, and at-risk youth.​

About Marion Wiesel

About Marion Wiesel

An editor, translator, and producer, Marion Wiesel was born in Vienna, Austria. As a small child during World War II, she and her parents fled to Belgium, then France, ultimately finding a haven in Switzerland. In 1949, she and her family reached the United States. In 1969 she married Elie Wiesel, their son Elisha was born in 1972. She also has a daughter, Jennifer, from an earlier marriage.

She has translated fourteen of her husband’s books from French to English, most recently the new edition of Night, selected by Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. She has produced many television programs, including “A Passover Haggadah,” “The World of Elie Wiesel” and “The Oslo Concert: A Tribute to Peace.” She wrote and narrated the documentary film “Children of the Night.”

Marion Wiesel and her husband founded The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity in 1986, and she initiated the creation of the Foundation’s first Beit Tzipora Center for Study and Enrichment for Ethiopian children in Israel. The creation of a second Beit Tzipora Center followed, and the two have flourished, providing desperately needed academic help and support to hundreds of Ethiopian-born children each year.

Marion Wiesel holds several honorary degrees, including doctorates from Boston and Bar Ilan Universities. In 1987, France made her Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. In 1991, President François Mitterand named her Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. In 2000, President Jacques Chirac promoted her to Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, and in 2007 to Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur. In 2001, President Bill Clinton presented her with the U.S. Medal of Citizenship.