Elie Wiesel says, “I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions”(5). Questioning God is essential to building a relationship with Him. As one finds the answers to the questions they become closer to God. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie grows up questioning God and when he is put in the concentration camp he questions God in ways that test his faith. Despite having grown up so strong in his faith, Elie questions his faith as he is put through the trials and tribulations of the concentration camp.
Elie is traumatized by he horrors of the concentration camps and it changes his faith so that it becomes difficult to believe in God. The horrors of the camp become real when Elie witnesses what his tormentors do at the concentration camps his faith is challenged. “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even if I were condemned to live as long as God himself “(34).
Elie’s God has been murdered because he cannot fathom a God that would allow for omething this evil to happen. At this moment, Elie feels abandoned by God, but Elie keeps the memory of this night in his mind forever because something so terrible cannot be forgotten so as to not repeat it. Like the fire that burns innocent Jews, the night that murdered Elie’s God is burned into his mind forever. Elie’s struggle to believe in God is apparent in his word choice about Akiba Drumer.
After working Akiba spent time reading the bible to try and find a sign, but Elie does not believe him. “Still lost in his Kabbalistic dreams, Akiba Drumer had discovered a verse in the Bible which, translated into numbers, ade it possible for him to predict Redemption in the weeks to come” (45). Elie uses words like “lost” and “dreams” because he does not believe that God’s Redemption will come and help him. Elie ignores Akiba’s predictions because he believes that hope in God is false hope.
Although Elie forsakes God’s justice and compassion he does not give up on his faith entirely. God presents Elie opportunities to gain back faith in Him, but Elie does not take the chance because the pain he is going through makes him have doubt. Elie sees an example of steadfastness in faith when he sees many people begin to pray hen arriving at the camp. Elie questions why they would pray in such a terrible situation. “Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank him for? (33).
Elie questions his own beliefs and wonders what he has to thank God for, this is because he has reached a low point in his life and has lost hope. This hopelessness makes Elie turn his back to God and shows that Elie only accepts God when good things are happening in his life. Another opportunity to regain faith is presented to Elie when some men speak of God and His ighteousness. Elie cannot accept this goodness anymore. “Some of the men spoke of God: His mysterious ways, the sins of the Jewish people, and the redemption to come.
As for me l had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice. “(45). Elie sees the strong faith of others and how they encourage to stay strong and believe, but Elie is obstinate and can not believe that a merciful God still exists. These men who keep faith are an example of God’s presence in the camp, but Elie is stubborn and chooses to ignore it. Elie does not see the camp as a test, but ather as God’s injustice. Although Elie fails to see God in the camp but God has not fully abandoned Elie.
The camp makes Elie question God and his justice, but it doesn’t change that he grows up faithful and that he instinctively turns to faith. Upon entering the concentration camps Elie forsakes God for putting him in this situation, but while being herded toward a fire and having a near death experience he still finds himself praying. “Deep down, I was saying good-bye to my father, to the whole universe, and against my will I found myself whispering the words: “Yisgadal, veyiskadash, shmey raba .. May his name be exalted and sanctified . ” My heart was about to burst.
There, I was face to face with the Angel of Death” (34). Elie finds himself praying because it is instinctual to him and is deeply rooted in him so that praying is what he does when nearing death. Even though Elie was condemning God a few moments before, he does not know what else to do but pray. Elie’s belief in God is more powerful than his doubt in God. Faith is a relief for Elie when he switches barracks and connects with two Zionist youth. Elie says, “They quickly became my friends. Having once belonged to a Zionist youth organization, they knew countless Hebrew songs.
And so we would sometimes hum melodies evoking the gentle waters of the Jordan River and the majestic sanctity of Jerusalem. We also spoke often about Palestine. Their parents, like mine, had not the courage to sell everything and emigrate while there was still time. We decided that if we were allowed to live until the Liberation, we would not stay another day in Europe. We would board the first ship to Haifa” (68). Singing the Hebrew hymns calms Elie because he still has faith to fall back on in times of distress. Elie and the Zionist boys see Israel as a safe-haven because the Jews can live freely there without discrimination there.
Israel is a country based on faith and Elie does not question that he will be happy once he gets there. The camp makes Elie question God and his justice, but it doesn’t change that he has grown up faithful and that he instinctively turns to faith. The camp changes Elie’s faith but cannot take it from him. The ordeals that Elie suffers in the concentration camp hurt His faith in God, but they do not take away his core beliefs and the comfort they bring him. Elie’s faith fluctuates from absolute elief in God before the camp to a shaken faith.
Wiesel shows that the cruelty of the Holocaust makes it difficult to see God’s divinity for those who experienced the horrors. Elie makes it out of the Holocaust with his faith intact because he is able to find the answers to the questions that he asks God. Elie questioning good and evil reflects his underlying faith in God because Elie once believes that the world is good because of God, but after the shocking experience of the Holocaust Elie realizes that the world has evil. Elie shows his devotion to God through the questions that he asks and the answers he seeks.
