Night pages 3-22

This first chapter commences with a description of Moishe the Beadle, a shtibl, poor and living in utter penury. At first glance this character appears insignificant, as he managed to perfect the art of "rendering himself insignificant, invisible" (p. 3). The narrator first enters the story following the description of Moishe; he is unnamed and speaks in first-person. The narrator is young, Jewish, and appears to be well educated. At the time of the story's occurrence he was "almost thirteen and deeply observant. By day I studied the Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple" (p. 3). Moishe the Beadle first becomes truly significant as he agrees to teach the narrator "the Zohar, the Kabbalistic works, the secrets of Jewish mysticism" (p. 5). The narrator's father, however, "wanted to drive the idea of studying Kabbalah from my mind" (p. 4). It was interesting to me that the narrator's desire to learn Kabbalah was so great that he was prepared to go against the will of his father, in effect performing an act against the Fourth Commandment.

Soon, however, all foreign Jews, including Moishe the Beadle, were expelled from Sighet, "crammed into cattle cars by the Hungarian police" (p. 6). http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/images/Jews%20being%20deported%20from%20France.jpg
Life for the Jews in Sighet gradually returns to its normal rate. After several months, however, Moishe returns. He explains to the narrator how the Jews "were forced to dig huge trenches...the Gestapo...shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their neck" (p. 6). What I perceived as particularly atrocious and horrendous behavior was Moishe's note that "infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for machine guns" (p. 6). The act of these human infants being treated as clay pigeons for target practice is incredibly cruel and heartless behavior. Following this horrendous affair, Moishe makes it his goal in life to warn the other Jews of this event to safeguard them against the Nazi assault.

Finally, in spring 1914, German soldiers begin their march into Sighet (http://youtube.com/watch?v=9yqRStyKYdo). The Jews are initially apprehensive, but they soon discover that the Germans appear to be friendly. As the narrator aptly remarks, "the Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out---and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling" (p. 10). The Jews consider those who cry out against German oppression to be fools, though their own conviction in German pacifism eventually leads to their own foolhardy demise. The Germans issue edicts, including the prohibition of Jews from leaving their residences, up until the formation of the ghettos. The Jews were separated from the non-Jewish populace in Sighet into two ghettos. The Jews at first welcome the change, as they now lived solely amongst their "brothers". Soon, however, transports are called for, and the Jews are carted off. The narrator's family is the last to go.