Night: Is his faith gone?
Uploaded by latinbaby on Oct 24, 2002
“Why do I pray? Why do I go to Church? Why do I live?” Have you ever asked yourself these questions, and then thought that it is wrong to ask? Well, it certainly is not wrong at all to want to know the reasons why you do these things. Questioning is essential to the idea of faith in God. This can be proven in the captivating book Night by Elie Wiesel. In the book, Eliezer’s belligerency with faith is a prominent conflict. In the beginning, his faith was a product of his studies of Jewish mysticism. These studies say that nothing exists without God, that God is everywhere. Eliezer has grown up believing that everything on Earth is a reflection of God’s holiness and power. As he goes through the horrors of the Holocaust, his faith is deeply shaken.
As the days go by in the concentration camps, Eliezer sees more and more cruelty and selfishness among his fellow Jewish prisoners. He can not comprehend how such disgusting and cruel savageness can reflect God’s divinity. He wonders how a benevolent God could allow such depravity, and how God could be part of it. Eliezer sees the horrible selfishness that takes place among every one involved with the Holocaust, not just the Nazis, but the prisoners and himself as well. If the world is so malignant and vile, then God must be malignant and vile, or he must not exist at all.
Although this “reality check” seems to completely deteriorate Eliezer’s faith in God, it is inaccurate to say that he has lost all faith. For example, on the first night at the concentration camps, when the hanging of the pipel took place, Eliezer showed that his faith was still there. A man in the crowd had asked where God was at that moment. A voice inside Eliezer answered, “Where is He? Here He is-He is hanging here on this gallows….” His struggle with faith is fundamental, not opposed, to his belief in God. When Moshe the Beadle was asked why he prays, he answered, “I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.” There is where Elie Wiesel proves the statement that questioning is essential to the idea of faith in God. The Holocaust drives Eliezer to ask horrible questions, but the very fact that he is questioning shows his commitment...