The most exciting play to read!

Elie Wiesel truly does an outstanding job at crafting the dialogue in such a way that it appears as if it could seamlessly fit into any century.

I was thoroughly surprised at just how effortless it was to follow along with the story and how rapidly I was able to get through the play.

This experience has definitely ignited within me a strong desire to commence reading plays on a regular basis.

The vividness of the characters and the engaging nature of the plot made it a truly captivating read.

I found myself completely immersed in the world that Wiesel had created, and I couldn't put the play down until I had reached the very end.

I highly recommend this play to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and entertaining read.

Due ideas thrown there just like that, and it's better like that:

It's beautiful, but... but... I don't know... I expected so much more from a trial that was nothing less than against God. That is, perhaps I expected it more in my heartstrings, meaning more blasphemous and sacrilegious than it is.

While reading, I was eager to witness this trial that however never came. Such a long wait, a continuous digression, as if trying to avoid the "moment of truth", so many facts and speeches that constantly lead elsewhere, almost to prevaricate. This long wait, it seems to me as if it represents the author's fear of bringing to completion what he had begun to write. A spark of anger had given him the idea for this work, but then in writing, it was as if something was preventing him from continuing, a sort of fear, or perhaps a sort of (precisely) "religious" respect towards that who/what had indeed hurt him, but that he had not "overcome" psychologically. In the end, he can no longer prevaricate and so finally the trial arrives, but by now the emotional intensity is dulled, the anger has vanished and the accusations turn out to be mitigated.

It seems to me that the author recognizes himself a lot in the tavern keeper, and the tavern keeper's hesitations (well hidden, but still hesitations it seems to me they are) are the author's own hesitations in facing this "grave task".

The work, despite the anger towards an absent God, is still permeated by a deep religious sense, just like we today would hate a once adored lover who has however made us suffer, but it is still clear that this hate is nothing but deep love not (yet???) finished...

Well, this I didn't like. The fact that despite everything one still feels the love towards God, whereas I instead expected that one would arrive at true liberation, at catharsis from religiosity...

This book is a highly complex play that delves deep into a plethora of theological arguments. It questions God's existence in the face of the most catastrophic human suffering. Set in 1649, it vividly describes a Purim play that takes place within a Jewish community that has recently been decimated by a pogrom.

Although it is only loosely based on real-life events that occurred in the concentration camps, it still manages to capture the essence of the horror and the profound questions that arose. I derived an enormous amount of value from reading this book. I found it to be much more accessible and readable than most of his other works. Perhaps the only exception could be the iconic 'Night'.

If you have an interest in understanding how Jewish theology has grappled with the concept of suffering in the aftermath of the Holocaust, then this book is an absolute must-read. It offers unique insights and perspectives that will surely make you think and reflect on the nature of faith and suffering.

Elie Wiesel was just a boy at Auschwitz when he witnessed prisoners gathering to form a traditional Hebrew court in order to try God for breaking His sacred covenant with the Jews. This powerful event is magnificently dramatized in PBS's "Masterpiece Theater" movie "God on Trial", which is strongly influenced by Wiesel's play.

Wiesel's 1979 original work was not set at the concentration camp. The book's introduction details his efforts to find an appropriate setting for his story. Eventually, he settled on the late Middle Ages, at an inn in the Ukrainian village of Shamgorod. Shamgorod and the neighboring villages were constantly plagued by pogroms. When three traveling minstrels arrived at the inn to celebrate Purim with the Jews of the town, they discovered that the number had been reduced to only two: the innkeeper and his daughter.

Despite being determined to drink and have fun (preferably at someone else's expense) and being terrified to leave the safety of the inn, the minstrels negotiated with the innkeeper to put on a Purimschpiel, or a farcical play in honor of the holiday. The enraged innkeeper chose the titular topic for the evening: the trial of God, with himself as the prosecutor. When a mysterious stranger appeared to play the defense attorney, the trial commenced.

Wiesel's decision to transfer his experiences to another place and era loosens the 20th-century's seemingly exclusive hold on mass misery and reminds us that there is nothing uniquely modern about the problem of evil or the difficulty of maintaining faith in the face of the worst forms of human barbarity. The simplicity of its three acts, small cast, and straightforward language beautifully and hauntingly highlights the need of the characters, both Jew and non-Jew alike, to believe in something better.

One of my favourite plays is truly a gem.

It is short, yet it manages to be incredibly profound. The brevity of the play does not in any way compromise its depth of meaning.

It is also an easy read, which makes it accessible to a wide range of audiences.

The story unfolds in a simple yet engaging manner, drawing the reader in from the very beginning.

The characters are well-developed and their interactions add to the overall charm of the play.

Despite its short length, it leaves a lasting impression on the reader, making them think about the themes and ideas presented long after they have finished reading.

It is a play that can be read and enjoyed multiple times, each time revealing something new and interesting.

Overall, it is a wonderful piece of literature that I highly recommend to anyone looking for a short and thought-provoking read.

This book offers a highly perceptive examination of how a group of Jews coped with all the hatred and assaults they endured at various junctures in history. Be it the Holocaust or any pogroms that preceded it.

It raises the question that many Jewish individuals likely posed to themselves during these horrific events: "Why God?" Precisely this is what the main character of this story inquires and desires to know.

The events within the book unfold with this query at the forefront, compelling you to contemplate all the diverse aspects of the argument regarding whether God is culpable for not assisting His people or not.

It delves deep into the complex emotions and thoughts that must have swirled within the Jewish community during those dark times, and invites readers to engage in a profound exploration of faith, suffering, and the role of a higher power.

By presenting this thought-provoking narrative, the book challenges us to grapple with these difficult questions and perhaps gain a greater understanding of the human experience in the face of adversity.

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My initial thought upon finishing this play was, "What?!"

The excessive amount of chatter and the failure to reach the trial truly frustrated me.

It seemed to me that this play was an attempt to convey that there is no God, and that our lives only derive meaning from our cultural or religious upbringing, or from a human-centered sense of self-importance.

There was a lengthy essay at the conclusion, purportedly explaining how the play supports the existence of God, but I remained unconvinced.

I found the play to be rather disjointed and lacking in a clear and compelling argument.

The characters' conversations often felt aimless and failed to build towards a satisfying resolution.

Overall, I was disappointed with this play and felt that it did not succeed in achieving its intended purpose.

I was truly confused about how much of what was described was actually true, especially when considering Wiesel's experience. Wiesel's account of his time during the Holocaust is both harrowing and eye-opening.

However, with the passage of time and the inevitable changes that occur in memory, one cannot help but wonder if some details have been altered or exaggerated.

It is important to approach such accounts with a degree of critical thinking and to verify as much as possible with other sources.

Despite these uncertainties, Wiesel's work remains a powerful testament to the atrocities of the Holocaust and serves as a reminder of the importance of never forgetting.

We must continue to study and learn from his experience in order to prevent such horrors from ever happening again.

Beautiful.

It weaves an earnest, ugly ache that is as old as time itself and yet as fresh as a sudden wound.

Believing that God is in charge amidst evil and merciless pain is like a scream that reverberates from the very bottom of our toes all the way up until we've cried our eyes red and sobbed our lungs raw.

And then we end up right where we started, with a God who knows far more than we do, who has chosen not to answer our countless whys but is still firmly in control.

The conviction to hold God accountable, to feel truly heard, understood, and vindicated attempts to find harmony with a belief in justice, a belief in the power of prayer, and a belief in being known at the deepest level.

It is an incredibly heavy weight to bear.

No real answers seem to help ease the burden.

But the effort to make sense of it all within the intricate pattern of faith pulses with a human honesty that, even if lacking a divine explanation, is still a powerful and profound expression of our spiritual journey.

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It has been an incredibly long time, in fact, it has been decades since I last delved into Wiesel's The Trial of God.

Yesterday, as I embarked on reading James Morrow's Blameless in Abaddon, it astonishingly transported me back to Wiesel's profound work. Wiesel was deeply inspired to pen The Trial of God by a harrowing scene he witnessed within a concentration camp. He wrote, "Its genesis: inside the kingdom of night I witnessed a strange trial. Three rabbis--all erudite and pious men--decided one winter evening to indict God for allowing his children to be massacred. I remember: I was there and I felt like crying. But there nobody cried."

Wiesel sets his trial in 1649 in a Jewish village that has been brutally destroyed by a pogrom. There, on Purim, a time that should be filled with joy and humorous Purimschpiele, God is shockingly put on trial. Interestingly, there is no verdict. Well, the reason for that... I won't disclose it to you. Instead, I encourage you to discover for yourself the sheer brilliance of this play and reach your own unique conclusion.