Night by Elie Wisel

The Loss of Faith

    “Faith means not wanting to know what is true”
~   Friedrich Nietzsche (German Scholar)

During the Holocaust, the Nazis’ caused more destruction than just ending the lives of innocent Jews. They destroyed the humanity of many, made them suffer, and shattered the faith that numerous had in God and themselves. The novel Night, by Elie Wisel depicts a clear representation of loss of faith from beginning to end in many Jews and he himself as well.
Elie begins the story as a teenager who yearns to be educated and gain as much knowledge he can of his religion. His faith was stronger than most of the Jews in the area of Sighet. His love for the Lord was extremely powerful as well. "By day I studied Talmud and by night I run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple." (p.3) Elie believed that he could sufficiently learn all areas of Judaism so he even asked his father to find him a master in the study of the Kabbalah to teach him more of it. (p.4) However, all his faith and beliefs were destroyed as he moved from camp to camp after his detainment. After seeing the horrific sights at the crematorium, everyone around him was weeping and reciting a prayer, Kaddish. “’Yisgadal, veyiskadash, shmey raba…May His name be celebrated and sanctified…’ whispered his father.” For the first time Elie began to question the whereabouts of God and how he was letting all this happen. “’…Why should I sanctify His name?…What was there to thank Him for?’” One thing was for sure and Elie “shall never forget the first night in camp.“ (p.34) His faith in God began to weaken and weaken, and it all went downhill from there. Elie still continued questioning God. “…Why do you go on troubling these poor people’s wounded minds, their ailing bodies?…Why would I bless his name? Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night.” (p.66-67)
Not only had Elie lost faith in God but so...