Elie Wiesel and Faith

Here’s a shocking quote from Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, that MUST be heard:

“In the beginning there was faith—which is childish; trust—which is vain; and illusion—which is dangerous…
“We believed in God, trusted in man, and lived with the illusion that every one of us has been entrusted with a sacred spark from the Shekkinah’s flame; that every one of us carries in his eyes and in his soul a reflection of God’s image.
“THAT was the source if not the cause of all our ordeals” (pp. x f.).

At the end of the book, he includes his Nobel Prize acceptance speech from December 10, 1986. In it he says:

“… I have faith. Faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and even in His creation. Without it no action would be possible” (p. 120).

Here’s a man who suffered at the hands of extreme violence. He explores the causes. He discerns the solution. May we have such courage! For only then can we do right action.