Faith/Loss of Faith

Elie was only 13 and studying his religion and had faith in his God, when his family was torn out of their home and sent to the concentration camp.  He was our age. Could we have gone through all the unthinkable things he and other Jews went through? Would we have still believed in God. Jewish is not just a race, it is also a religion.  Many Jews had to pretend they were not Jewish to survive, like the French girl that talked to him after a beating and said “bite your lip little brother.” When he met her years later she said “Am I Jewish…?  Yes, I am. (Wiesel 54) Elie lost his faith when the SS hanged the young boy. It took a half hour for him to die and they were forced to watch. Someone behind Elie said “For God’s sake, where is God.” Elie’s inner voice says “This is where--hanging here from this gallows.”  (Wiesel 65) What he means is that there is no God, this innocent young boy who has been executed for sport is the only one that deserves to be God. Later, during Rosh Hashanah prayers, he writes, “I no longer pleaded for anything. I felt strong. I was the accuser, and God the accused.” (68)   He believes he is alone in the world without God without man. In a way, he finds his faith again when Rabbi Eliahu’s son left his father behind. He is scared of what he could become. He prays “Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done.” (Wiesel 91)