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A review by seeceeread
The Trial of God: (as It Was Held on February 25, 1649, in Shamgorod) by Elie Wiesel
5.0
💠"What is the purpose of this trial? We know perfectly well that the outcome won't change anything: the dead will not rise from their graves. We judge because we wish to know. To understand."
I've lost count of how many times I've read this! Wiesel pulls from a critical experience as a teen interned at Auschwitz: Three rabbis put God on trial, declared divinity guilty, then "after an infinity of silence," reminded witnesses to go pray.
Here, we revisit his memory in a heightened atmosphere: In 17th century Ukraine, three drunk traveling dramatists plan to celebrate the Purim holiday ... until they learn they've come to a town where a pogrom last year eliminated all but two Jews. The distraught innkeeper whose spirits they've imbibed is one, as is his daughter. Berish, the proprietor, demands they perform: a trial of God. After deliberation on roles, responsibilities and past events, the play gets underway — only to be interrupted by Berish's "silenced" daughter, Hanna, and more significantly, a priest who warns another mob is forming against the adherents. The ending is dramatic and damning.
One must believe in God to denounce Her; must have faith to question or deepen it. By placing the play during Purim, a sort of carnaval, Wiesel heightens this tension: "The earth is inhabited by assassins and clowns." Characters lament that their faith is not protective, satisfying or mitigating — indeed, their oppressors cite their faith as a root cause of both personal and communal tragedy. His tavern setting comes alive with farce, violence, despair and uncertainty to distill critical questions on the human experience. And while the trial never concludes, "Our judgment may prove useless but not meaningless!"
I've lost count of how many times I've read this! Wiesel pulls from a critical experience as a teen interned at Auschwitz: Three rabbis put God on trial, declared divinity guilty, then "after an infinity of silence," reminded witnesses to go pray.
Here, we revisit his memory in a heightened atmosphere: In 17th century Ukraine, three drunk traveling dramatists plan to celebrate the Purim holiday ... until they learn they've come to a town where a pogrom last year eliminated all but two Jews. The distraught innkeeper whose spirits they've imbibed is one, as is his daughter. Berish, the proprietor, demands they perform: a trial of God. After deliberation on roles, responsibilities and past events, the play gets underway — only to be interrupted by Berish's "silenced" daughter, Hanna, and more significantly, a priest who warns another mob is forming against the adherents. The ending is dramatic and damning.
One must believe in God to denounce Her; must have faith to question or deepen it. By placing the play during Purim, a sort of carnaval, Wiesel heightens this tension: "The earth is inhabited by assassins and clowns." Characters lament that their faith is not protective, satisfying or mitigating — indeed, their oppressors cite their faith as a root cause of both personal and communal tragedy. His tavern setting comes alive with farce, violence, despair and uncertainty to distill critical questions on the human experience. And while the trial never concludes, "Our judgment may prove useless but not meaningless!"