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Caroline Hart

Ms. Crowell

Advanced Composition

11 December 2017

I No Longer Accepted Gods Silence: A Journey of Elies Change in Faith

Early on in his life, Elie shows the importance of religion; his faith in God defines his

identity. However, when the Nazis transport him to the concentration camps, he feels that his

faith abandons him. He cannot believe God would let something so terrible happen, especially in

the 20th century. In Elie Wiesels memoir, Night, young Elie guides the readers through his

catastrophic journey and demonstrates how it influences his faith. Even though Elies supposed

loss of faith contributes to his survival, he never truly loses his faith because his anger towards

God drives him through the hardships he encounters.

Elies parents raise him in a strong Jewish household where by day, [he] studies the

Talmud (3) to learn more about his religion. However, Elie wants to learn about the Jewish faith

in a different aspect, so he asks his father if he can study the Kabbalah. His father tells him he

needs to be older, but he insists that he wants to learn it anyways. He feels that his maturity

allows him to comprehend the true value behind the Jewish mysticism. Moishe the Beadle, the

poorest of the poor, offers to tutor Elie without his father knowing. He speaks to Elie for hours

about the Kabbalahs revelations and its mysteries, and in order to learn, they read the Zohar

together. Moishe and Elie do not read it to remember it by heart, but to discover within the very

essence of divinity (5). Elie does not read the Zohar just to learn about it; he reads it to truly

understand the meaning behind the mysticism. Elie has passion for learning more about the

Jewish faith because Judaism impacts his life, and shapes him into the person he becomes.
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During his journey through the concentration camps however, Elie feels that he loses his

faith; he does not doubt Gods existence, but [he] doubts His absolute justice (45). Elie

questions his faith because God lets devastation and disaster take place. Believers expect God to

comfort and do his best by not allowing homicide take place. However, Elie goes from doubting

Gods purpose, to not knowing where God can be found. When Elie sees the young pipel suffer

after the hanging, he becomes very confused and emotional; he hears a voice behind him say

For Gods sake, where is God (65)? He could not answer the question because he, himself did

not know the answer. Elie feels that if God was real than he would be helping him out instead of

allowing people to suffer in such a terrible place.

Moreover, Elies anger towards God guides him to survival. On the eve of Rosh

Hashanah, many prisoners seem angry and question Gods intensions. How could they bless him

when He caused many children to burn in his mass graves? (67). Prisoners see babies

constantly being thrown into fires, which make them question Gods plans. After thinking and

hearing about the many questions prisoners have, Elie concludes that man is stronger, and

greater than God (67). He realizes that God does not seem to be helping him, so in order to

survive, he decides he needs to depend on himself and the help of others. Also, in the Jewish

religion, The Day of Atonement is when the Jewish believers fast for twenty-five hours straight

without even a sip of water. When this day comes around in the concentration camp, Elie decides

there [is] no longer any reason for [him] to fast (69). Many people think they should fast to

show God that even in a place of misery that they can still sing his praises, but Elie has

completely different thoughts. He no longer accepts Gods intensions; he could not accept his

silence, so he ate. Eating demonstrates a smart decision for Elie. The prisoners already go day by
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day starving and fighting for survival, so instead of fasting for a day, he continued to sip on his

soup and eat his bread.

Religion impacts Elie Wiesels life in so many ways. Even though he thinks he loses his

faith during his journey through the concentration camps, he never fully loses it; once he has

faith it never truly goes away. Hardships can make people feel like they lose their faith, but

maybe God is trying to show them how to overcome hardships. Faith indicates an important

aspect in many peoples life during this time, but the fact Elie loses his faith benefits him. He

survives this time in his life, and ends up later on teaching about the Jewish Faith. If Elie can

regain faith during this ordeal, anybody should be able to because nothing can be as hard as what

Wiesel went through.

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Work Citied

Wiesel, Elie. Night. Translated by Marion Wiesel, Hill and Wang, 2006.