Timmy's Post #1

Dear Elie Wiesel,

            As I complete the first section of reading my heart is broken, my eyes are watery and my mind is left with millions of questions.  To begin, after reading about Moshe the Beadle and your strong faith prior to the Holocaust, it makes me wonder about your own faith today.   Prior to the Holocaust I observed how great of a role God played in your life.  When you were asked why you prayed you responded, "Why did I pray? Strange question.  Why did I live? Why did I breathe?" (Wiesel 4).  You explained how one's relationship with God is strengthened when you communicate with him.  You prayed very often which allowed me to know that you had an indestructible relationship with God.  However, what did this experience do to your faith?  Today, do you still believe in God and the readings of the Torah?  Or do you not believe in God at all?  One often loses their hope and faith after traumatizing and wicked events such as this one. 

            Being a devoted Catholic, religion plays a large role in my own life.  I attend a weekly mass, pray before all my meals and know I have angels looking over me in the Gates of Heaven.  Last year, I was confirmed into God's family and now an adult figure in the Catholic Church.  Each day I know that God looks over and protects me.  Prayer is very important to me, just as it was to you as a young boy.  Prayer opens your relationship with God, shows thankfulness, present your needs and ask for forgiveness. Through prayer God can help you with his extraordinary power.  I understand that dreadful things can change your life; however, what happens is all part of a greater journey that God wants you to learn from.  An event like the Holocaust would be difficult to accept though.  I would constantly ask myself, how could God let this happen to me and millions of others?  At that point, I would lose any faith in God's existence because the dictator behind this immoral act should not be able to obtain a superior power to God's.  I am curious to see where your relationship with God goes as this journey moves forward.  It can either be strengthened as you communicate with him through this nightmare, he can provide a light of hope.  Or it will slowly disappear as you witness the most horrible event that the world has ever seen.  Also, I would wonder, how could God create someone to be so destructive and evil?  As a young child did you think of Hitler as human?  For me, someone who could obtain so much evil is not human, they are a monster.  Hitler was a monster that changed your life forever.  At the beginning of the journey you saw your father cry, "It was the first time I saw him cry. I had never thought it was possible" (Wiesel 19).  The world around you was suddenly changing rapidly.  I know there is horror and fear in your future and I am anxious to hear the rest of your experience.  Thank you for sharing your story with the world!

Sincerely,

Timmy Salit