NIGHT

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NIGHT

• Section 5 Notes
• THE NEW YEAR

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JEWISH TRADITION

• In Night, at the end of the summer, the Jewish
  High Holidays arrive.
• 1. Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the
  spiritual new year, occurs first.

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• 2. Ten Days of Repentance follow.
• This includes self-reflection, early morning
  prayers, and fasting.

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• 3. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement concludes
  the holidays.
• Its central theme is atonement and
  reconciliation.
• Fasting begins at sundown and ends after
  nightfall the following day.

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• These High Holidays are a time of divine
  judgment.
• According to the prayer book, Jews pass before
  God on Rosh Hashanah like sheep before the
  shepherd, and God determines who will live and
  who will die in the coming year.

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• In the concentration camp, Eliezer hints at a
  horrible reversal that has taken place during
  these sacred Jewish holidays.
• Soon after Rosh Hashanah, the SS performs a
  selection on the prisoners at Buna.
• All of the prisoners pass before Dr. Mengele, a
  famous and cruel Nazi doctor. He is the one who
  determines who will be condemned to death and who
  can continue to live.

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• This creates a disturbing parallel the Nazis
  have placed themselves in Gods role.

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Nazi Control

• This message of the Nazis winning and taking over
  the role of God is further emphasized in other
  characters
• 1. When the faceless inmate tells Eliezer
  Ive more faith in Hitler than in anyone else.
  Hes the only one whos kept his promises to the
  Jewish people.

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• 2. Akiba Drumer, who was known for his faith and
  hope, loses his will and does not survive the
  selection. Eliezer promises to say the Kaddish
  for him, but forgets his promise.
• Eliezers loss of faith means betrayal not just
  of God, but also of his fellow human beings.

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PRESENCE OF HOPE

• Yet, even in rejecting God, Eliezer and his
  fellow Jews cannot erase God from their
  consciousness.
• Akiba Drumer requests Eliezer say the Kaddish
  this shows hope in God and his faith.

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• In the first volume of his autobiography, All
  Rivers Run to the Sea, Wiesel speaks more of his
  religious feelings after the Holocaust.
• My anger rises up within faith and not outside
  it, he wrote.
• I had seen too much suffering to break with the
  past and reject the heritage of those who
  suffered.

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• Even though Eliezer declares his loss of faith he
  is unable to reject the Jewish tradition and God
  completely.

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• Therefore, the very existence of this memoir
  shows Eliezers continued belief in the
  importance of human life.
• If both Elie Wiesel and Eliezer were completely
  hopeless, then why was Night written?