Eliezer's Faith In A Benevolent God

Eliezer’s struggle to maintain faith in a Benevolent God- Throughout the holocaust people’s trust in God was put to the test. Before Eliezer was abducted from his home and became a prisoner of the concentration camps, his certainty and unconditional worship was absolute. At the age of twelve he said that he “believed profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple.” (Page 1) When he was asked, “Why do you pray?” by Moshe the Beadle, Eliezer responded by asking himself “Why do I pray?... Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” (Page 4) This shows that Eliezer thinks of praying as an essential part of life. When he experiences the brutality of the concentration camps like Bruna and Auschwitz his faith is tested. Eliezer starts to lose his faith on their eighth evening in Auschwitz. He says, “But I had ceased to pray… I did not deny God’s existence, but I doubted His absolute justice.” (Page 34) At this time in history, people asked “Where is God our savior when humanity is experiencing these horrific events? Why is he not helping us?” Everyone’s faith was shaken during this tragic time.

Silence- …show more content…
“Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my souls and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” (Page 25-26) Eliezer says this after him and his father realize they have survived the first selection at Birkenau. Passive silence is what fueled the holocaust. This book, Night, breaks the silence by spreading the details of the catastrophic events that took place during this time of