Friday, September 7, 2018

What are some characteristics of Moishe the Beadle from Night?

Moishe the beadle is a very influential character in Night even though he doesn't make too many appearances. The most important thing about him is his faith, more specifically the mystical variant of Judaism to which he adheres. Moshe comes to represent Elie's ceaseless struggles with his own faith, one of the major themes of the book. At times he can come across as a tad complacent, or even naive, yet his faith gives him a much broader, more cosmic perspective on life, one that allows him to make sense of the horrors inflicted on the Jews by their Nazi captors.
Moshe's spiritual quest is never-ending; he's always asking questions of God. But one thing he won't do is question God Himself. That's where Elie eventually parts company with Moshe; Elie does question God. He does this first of all in relation to His perceived failure to intervene and prevent evil. Eventually, he calls God's very existence into question. Yet the asking of such questions is not a sign of a loss of faith, thinks Moshe; rather, such questions are an expression of it. Whether one agrees with Moshe on this point, there's no doubt that he is a man of great wisdom and profundity, someone who provides an important perspective on life in the camp and all its myriad evils.

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