In Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, he shows his love for God is natural when Moishe the Beadle saw Eliezer in the synagogue and asked him “ Why do you pray?” and he responded “Why did I pray? Strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” (4). The answer Eliezer gives shows how his faith in God is not something he has to think about, doing just like living and breathing which he compared it to. During his time in the concentration camp however, his faith becomes tested. He is treated brutally and struggles each day to live to see the next. The time he spent in the concentration camp made it hard for him to maintain his faith. Over the course of Night the Jews faith weakened due to the cruel treatment that the faithful Jews received in the …show more content…
The end of the year was approaching and on the “eve of Rosh Hashanah” (66) tension was growing in the camp. The daily evening meal came but no one would eat it until after prayer had taken place. All the prisoners fled into the Appelplatz for mass. The mass began and the prisoners repeated “‘Blessed be God’s name…’” (67) Eliezer asked himself “Blessed be God’s name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled” (67). Eliezer did not want to worship God because of all the bad events he has let go on in the concentration camp. The mass went on and Eliezer thought to himself “Yes, man us stronger, greater than God” (67). He went on to mentioning passed events that occurred where man was in need of help and God gave it to them, but in this case he was nowhere for the Jews. The Day of Atonement came and this is the one day a year when God commands his followers to fast. The idea of fasting was bubbling up in many of the Jews minds. Many Jews mindset was “We needed to show God that even here, locked in hell, we were capable of singing His praises” (69). On the other hand others thought it was unsmart because in the concentration camp food was not given in big portions so fasting would lead to a “rapid death” (69). Eliezer’s father “[forbid]” (69) him to fast and it bothered him at first then he came to realize “I no longer accepted God’s silence” (69). Eliezer’s faith did not …show more content…
Eliezer recalls how Akiba had been walking around the camp “his eyes glazed, telling everyone how weak he was: ‘I can’t go on… It’s over…” (76). Eliezer and the other prisoners “tried to raise his spirits” (76) but nothing helped Akiba stop talking about how weak he was. Eliezer felt bad for Akiba and thought to himself that if Akiba had only held onto this test God was putting them through “ he would not have been swept away by the selection” (77). Akiba knew he was going to be gone so he asked Eliezer and the other prisoners to say Kaddish for him and they all promised to do so. Akiba reminded Eliezer of a rabbi he knew. The rabbi was a man of strong faith, “He recited entire pages from the Talmud, arguing with himself, asking and answering himself endless questions.” (76). One day that all changed when he said “It’s over, God is no longer with us.” (76) to Eliezer. He asked “Where is God’s mercy? Where’s God? How can I believe, how can anyone believe in this God of Mercy?” (77). He felt guilty for what he had said but he had been through so much in the concentration camp that he could no longer take it. The rabbi and Akiba questing God shows their loss of faith. Throughout Akiba Drumer’s life his faith was strong, but the life in the concentration camp was too vigorous for his faith to stay
The book Night by Elie Wiesel shows how suffering and witnessing the painful deaths of many innocent lives can be the cause of loss of faith in the benevolent god. This book is taken in a horrible, inhumane place called the Holocaust. It all started when Moshe the Beadle stopped talking about God after he had witnesses the massacre of Jews by the German Gestapo; at that time no one believed him but time would prove them wrong. When Elie witnesses the horror of the concentration camps and what they do to people especially children he feels as if his God has been murdered right before his eyes. In the camp he sees an atrocity after atrocity, death after death.
However during Eliezer’s first departures end, In the text Eliezer prays to God in his head and thinks "Oh God, Master of the Universe, in your infinite compassion, have mercy on us ... " (PG 20) but sadly in this story his calls will go unheard and shall be acquitted with years of torture and no help from his lord. Nevertheless later during the line that Eliezer and his father were taken he questions to himself why should he praise the name of the almighty master of the universe as they had not done anything to be thankful for. Moreover after the initial transportation and encounter with the angel of death Eliezer shall never forget the day his god was killed and his dreams turned to ashes.
(8.92-96).” Later in the concentration camp, fellow prisoners including Elie, starts thinking the God he knew when he was innocent. but this God has a different persona, possibly one indifferent to suffering, “Some of the men spoke of God: His mysterious ways, the sins of the Jewish people, and the redemption to come. As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job!
Elie Wiesel uses many factors to display the horrors that took place at Auschwitz, but his use of Judaism and faith are by far the most prevalent and, in my opinion, the most meaningful. His transition from an ultra-orthodox Jew to an Atheist in such a short time period showcases the amount of trauma and dehumanization caused in order to put in motion such an upheaval. Elie Wiesel begins his memoir by describing himself as, “deeply observant. By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple.” (3) With this statement, he is trying to articulate that at this point in time, Eliezer’s life was mainly comprised of his faith.
After the hangings, the prisoners said a prayer. But Eliezer says, “Why, but why would I bless His name?... He created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death” (Wiesel 67). Eliezer, and soon, the rest of the Jewish prisoners, wonders why God would let this happen. People were starting to not believe in God.
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jews gathered in silence, worshiping God. Elie is in shock that they still praise Him despite the terrible things they have endeavored. He even goes into lengths to say, “Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar? ,” (pg. 67) and he even begins to think about how man is truly greater than God, “And I, the former mystic, was thinking: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God.
In the span of a lifetime one often faces many adversities that stand within their path. While some challenges will be overcome easily, others will take a lot more tenacity. When in the face of adversity it is key not to give up. One should always strive to persevere through their hardships, no matter how severe they seem to be. The author of the memoir “Night” Elie Wiesel, vividly describes his experiences in the concentration camp of Auschwitz.
The Holocaust was one of the most tragic events in history. It just so happened to be the cause of six million deaths. While there are countless beings who experienced such trauma, it is impossible to hear everyone's side of the story. However, one man, in particular, allowed himself to speak of the tragedies. Elie Wiesel addressed the transformation he underwent during the Holocaust in his memoir, Night.
Belief and Faith is a “double-edged sword” to the jews, it cuts both ways. It keeps them alive, and at the same time makes them oblivious, and leads to their suffering. Over time, Elie’s belief in god, diminishes and eventually he questions God’s existence extensively and at point, Elie is infuriated that even though they are being tormented and enslaved, the Jews will still pray to god, and thank him, “If god did exist, why would he let u go through all the pain and suffering (33). This is a major point in the ongoing theme of faith and belief, because for once he is infuriated with the thought of religion in a time of suffering. Throughout the book, with the nazis ultimate goal is to break the jews and make dehumanize them and if anything, their goal is take and diminish their belief.
Eliezer was very close to god and wanted to learn anything he could. Once he was taken away from his home, he began losing faith in god and lost all hope. Eliezer stopped praying and he believed that god was unjust. Eliezer felt as though god was uncaring and so he stopped believing in him. His view on god changed juristically throughout Night.
In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when he questioned God, ¨Blessed be God’s name? Why, but why would I bless him? Every fiber in me rebelled, he caused thousands of children to burn his Mass graves?¨(Wiesel 68). Overall, Wiesel does not follow the words of God and is not believing in him anymore because he thinks God is the one thatś letting all the inhumanity occur. One theme in Night is that inhumanity can cause disbelief or incredulity.
As time carried on, Eliezer’s faith and connection to God died. It was too much for him to believe that his once-beloved God had abandoned them. “Blessed be God’s name? Why, but why would I bless him? ... Because he caused thousands of children to burn in his mass graves?
As for me, I had ceased to pray... I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice” (45). It is apparent here that the effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish people’s faith was delayed on some level. Elie refuses to pray to the God that apparently abandoned him. This is personified when he says he doubts that God has absolute justice.
Where is God 's mercy? Where 's God? How can I believe, how can anyone believe in this God of Mercy? (77). " Elie was losing his faith in God.
Imagine believing so strongly in something and then being let down, or thinking that you were wrong even to believe. In Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie felt as though he had lost his religion and belief in God. We learned how strong his beliefs were when he says,“I believed profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep of the destruction of the Temple,” (Wiesel, 14).