Elie Wiesels "Night"

Has anyone here read this book???

Whats your opinion of it?

How did it affect you?

The theological, and metaphysical questions that arise from this book make me think. Is G-d a good G-d? Why does he allow some of his children to inflict such unfathomable sufferrings on other of his children? What can be said of this? How can the mind even tolerate these questions amidst such unspeakable horror? How... Do i process this information?

While i could never say a word to Elie Wiesel, or any holocaust survivor (or anyone who has gone through any traumatic ordeal) I can only say this to myself; G-d is infinite. His rule is above mans ability to understand.

In mystical thought, all mankind is of one consciousness - the shekinah. In this world, we become differentiated. "I" become "ME", and you become you....But from the transcendantal, absolute, and undifferentiated perspective, all is completely and absolutely one. In this world, a German wacking at some Jews telling them to get off the cattle carts and form lines of 5 will have to pay his penalty in the next world. His sufferrings are coming for him. He has not evaded punishment. In this world, the good and righteous, and albeit, naive victims of the Nazi Holocaust, were the living victims of such a horror. Its as if the "Angel of Death" revealed himself in the world, to wreak havoc on all; those victims who sufferred at the hands of psychopathic murderers, and the murderers themselves, accepting the incarnation of the principle of destruction, and chaos, and evil into their souls.

A tragedy of this proportion is difficult to understand. But, i do know this. Amidst such horror, there are no adequate explanations. Its as if the world receded back into its primordial chaos, where law and order do not yet exist. Amidst such a condition, you do not exist. It is best to give yourself completely and totally to the One. Trusting him, and accepting whatever fate awaits. This perspective transcends the duality of "good and evil". In this world, Good and evil DO exist, and it is absolutely necessary to make this distinction if one seeks to live a life of true inner peace. But outside such normal conditions, where mans ideal is to perform acts of kindness and charity towards others... Good can not be said to exist. Confusion reigns; and the "angel of death" does not differentiate between good and evil.

reply to post by dontreally


I read this book last year. But despite the very sad tragedy of his story, I felt like it didn't really conclude properly.
I don't associate this book with any sort of religion or spirituality, it was just an account of what he experienced.

reply to post by dontreally


All is one. There is inescapably duality. This duality can be traced back to infinity which is nothing. All you are is infinity/nothing, but until you cease to be aware, you will be forever subject to the eternal law of karma.

Infinity = Nothing. I'll say it a million times. It's irrefutable. I wish someone could prove me wrong, but it has not occurred yet. It meets a lot of doubt, but no one has proven me wrong and thus I retain this belief, this fact.

Anytime you become aware of a portion of infinity/nothing, you are observing the whole of it. Until the paradox is resolved, which it never will be, creation will continue on. The law of karma will always be in effect.

Creation is the process of resolving the paradox. As nothing reaches out to infinity and infinity reaches in to nothingness, infinity/nothing try to figure out what it is exactly. This is our purpose here. It is the reason we exist. Just to experience. Problems are supposed to be resolved and infinity/nothing is an infinite problem.

reply to post by smithjustinb


So you have a more Buddhist perspective to this question.

While i agree that we are all nothing, i think both perspectives are equally true and valid. To say all is nothing is a rejection of the temporal reality we all know and live in. I believe both exist, and yes, it is a paradox. We exist, and yet we dont exist. And both our valid perspectives, because both have valid realities.

For instance, the Hebrew word for "I" and "Nothing" are made up of the same letters. The kabbalistic idea of letters is archetypal. Each letter also has a corresponding number, and this number is reflective of the general archetypal nature of this Letter in creation. Thus, each letter is a basic building block of reality. The "yod", which has its own particular sound, its own particular form, and its own particular quantity - corresponding to the soul, time and space dimensions in reality - contributes to these 3 different dimensions of reality its own unique element.

The Hebrew word for "Nothing" is אין, while "I" is אני. Same exact letters, because they represent the same reality - just in a different "arrangement" or perspective. When the "Yod", which symbolizes the 10 sefiroth, and thus the godhead, is put infront of the Nun - which symbolizes the 50 gates of "understanding" ie; individualized consciousness, it means the awareness of the infinite and eternal, nothingness essentially (which is why the yod is the smallest of letters י) is at the center of consciousness, while the nun, whose shape has depth, length and width - נ - which refers to individualized consciousness, is put at the back of consciousness. Conversely, in אני, the perception of self - the nun - precedes the yod, 'wholistic' consciousness.

The entire Hebrew language is like this. There is no language on earth that can compare to it. It describes reality as it is, in its most fundamental basis.

reply to post by dontreally


Yes, I read this book and wrote a paper on it in college. What it meant to me was simply one human being's ability to survive, at all costs, no matter what it took. Do I believe in God? Yes. This author survived his ordeal for a reason, to tell his story. For someone like me, back in the day in the eighties, did I think this story would be relevant? No, not really. I was a twenty-something girl who cared about looking good and attracting the guys and going out and partying. Have I ever forgot this story? No, not ever.

This story, a short paperback book that I read, stuck with me since then, and I'm now 44. I wish I had saved that paper I wrote in college just so I could read and see what I would have commented on at that age. I bought the book for my sixteen year old son to read.

It transcends generations and time, to me it's a book of survival of the human spirit and how to keep your spirit intact. One of life's lessons, albeit in this case a really, really tough lesson. To come out of it without hatred is truly a miracle. How many miracles do we really get in one lifetime?