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.
 This includes self-reflection, early
morning prayers, and fasting.

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.
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.


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.

This creates a disturbing parallel:
the Nazis have placed themselves in
God’s role.
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.”
– 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 of God, but also of his fellow human
beings.
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.
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.”


Even though Eliezer declares his loss
of faith he is unable to reject the
Jewish tradition and God completely.
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?
