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NIGHT

NIGHT. Section 5 Notes “THE NEW YEAR”. 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. 2. Ten Days of Repentance follow.

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NIGHT

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  1. NIGHT Section 5 Notes “THE NEW YEAR”

  2. 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.

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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. This creates a disturbing parallel: the Nazis have placed themselves in God’s role.

  8. 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: “I’ve more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises …to the Jewish people.”

  9. 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. • Eliezer’s loss of faith means betrayal not just ofGod, but also of his fellow human beings.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.”

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

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

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