English 30-1

Isherwood

A Conversation With Elie Wiesel (Excerpted)

Many of our discussions and journal entries dealt with Elie Wiesels relationship with God
throughout the course of Night. This interview, from Midstreams March/April 2006 feature,
provides some insight into his current beliefs.
Joseph Lowin: When he was eleven years old, my older son, David, took Night off the bookshelf and
read it in one sitting. After finishing the book, he asked me: Is Elie Wiesel still Jewish? When I asked
him, Why? he responded, Because he no longer believes in God. That young boy is now a man.
What can you tell him about your ongoing struggle with belief?
Elie Wiesel: First of all, Jewish? I become more and more Jewish. Whatever I do, I do for my own
people. Whatever I do, I do as a Jew. I believe that I can help others, that I can speak to others, that I
can teach others, and always as a Jew. For me, therefore, it is important to see the whole world through
the eyes of a Jew. I say it again and again. I say it all the time; I choose to identify myself as a Jew. I
acknowledge that a Catholic, a Buddhist, or an atheist has the same right of self-identification.
Joseph Lowin: So you flunked Assimilation 101?
Elie Wiesel: I never even registered for that course. Some writers were seduced, but I was never
tempted. My problem is not with Judaism but with humanity. As to my beliefs, people didnt
understand about my faith [in the camps]. I never lost my faith. If I had lost my faith, I would have
had no problem. I dont say I dont have problems with God. I do have problems with God. As I say
elsewhere, the tragedy of the believer is deeper than the tragedy of the non-believer. The non-believer
has a problem with humanity, not with God. We had both. I did have problems eventually, but not
immediately. I stand by every word in Night. In Night [and in my play, The Trial of God] I say we
condemn God, but immediately afterward we went to prayer. Not only that. We had, in Auschwitz,
somebodya non-Jewwho smuggled in a pair of tefillin for I dont know how many portions of
bread. Every dayevery day[my father and I] we got up and laid tefillin. There was no reason to do
that. It was not one of the three laws of ye-hareg ve-al yaavor [for which one must permit oneself to be
killed and not transgress]. And what is the prayer we said? Ahavah Rabbah Ahavtanu [You have loved
us with abundant love]. What kind of prayer was Ahavah Rabbah? And then we continued, Hemlah
Gedolah Viyteirah Hamalta Aleinu [You have pitied us with exceedingly great pity]. Where is the
Ahavah? Where is the Hemlah? And when I came out of Auschwitz to France, into a childrens home, I
became very, very religious. I really became almost as religious as I was as a child [in Sighet]. What
saved me, what saved my sanity was study [of Jewish texts]. I never stopped learning. Later on, in
the fifties, when I studied philosophy and theology [at the Sorbonne], I began to be invaded by doubts,
all the questions we have now in philosophy and theology, Gods presence in history, Gods action in
history, Gods relationship to his creation. Again, not that I stopped believing in God.

http://www.midstreamthf.com/200603/feature.html