QUOTES:
“You are too young for that. Maimonides tells us that one must be thirty before venturing into the world of mysticism, a world fraught with peril. First you must study the basic subjects, those you are able to comprehend.” Pg. 4 –Shlomo. In vain. I succeeded on my own in finding a master for myself in the person of Moishe the Beadle. Pg. 4 The bible commands us to rejoice during the eight days of celebration, but our hearts were not in it. Pg. 10 I looked up at my house which I had spent years seeking my God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later. Pg. 19 “Oh God, Master of the Universe, in your infinite compassion, have mercy on us…” Pg. 20 “Yisgadal, veyiskadash, shmey raba…May His name be celebrated and sanctified...” whispered my father. For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank him for? Pg. 33 –Shlomo & Eliezar. Deep down, I was saying good-bye to my father, to the whole universe, and, against my will, I found myself whispering the words: “May His name be exalted and sanctified…” Pg. 34 –Elie I thanked God, in an improvised prayer, for having created mud in His infinite and wondrous universe. Pg. 38 As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice. Pg. 45 “Where He is? This is where-hanging here from this gallows…” Pg. 65 What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, the defiance? Pg. 66 Yes, man is stronger, greater than God. Pg. 67 And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence…I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him. Pg. 69 And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed. Pg. 91