Elie was a boy of the scripture at the beginning of the book. "I believed profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I would run to the Synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple."(1) He wanted to keep learning about the Talmud, and the cabbala. Even when Moshe the Beadle came back after being deported, Elie could not figure out why Moshe had denied God now, and felt he was alone. "I wanted to come back to Sighet to tell you the story of my death. So that you could prepare yourselves while there was still time. To live? I don't attach any importance to my life anymore. I'm alone. No, I wanted to come back, and to warn you. And see how it is, no one will listen to me..."(5) Still, Elie continued to devote himself to his studies. By day, the Talmud, at night, the cabbala (5). And when the Germans moved into Sighet, Elie believed that God would help him. Then came the ghettos, the yellow stars, the curfews, and rules. On Elie's first night at Birkenau his father whispered a prayer. "May His Name be blessed and magnified..."(31) Then it was that Elie denied God. "For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless his name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank him for?"(31) When Elie saw those crematories filled with babies, women, and children, was when he actually realized that God was not going to be there for him. "Never shall I forget that night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity ...