Free The Testament by Elie Wiesel

back. But instead of quoting Engels, Plekhanov and Lenin, he invoked the messianichope we shared. And I could only approve: he was pleading for justice for the victims, and the dignity of slaves, amen.
    “My father is one of the Just,” he said. “He has never done anything to harm a living being; and he’s poor. We often go hungry, did you know that? Two hot meals a week, that’s all we can afford. Why are we condemned to hunger, to poverty?”
    “Because it’s God’s will,” I answered. “Who are we to wish to pierce the secret of His ways? Let the Messiah come and …”
    “I have four older sisters; there’s no money to marry them off. Why do you want my sisters to remain old maids?”
    “God’s will is unfathomable; it is not up to us to question it, you know that perfectly well. Let the Messiah come and …”
    “The Messiah, the Messiah! For two thousand years men worthier than we have been imploring him to make himself known and to establish his kingdom, and century after century injustice goes on. Do you know Hanan-the-Coachman? He has nothing; he doesn’t even own his horse or his coach; nor his hovel either, nor even his body. He toils from dawn to dusk and often late into the night. Occasionally you can see him, eyes red from lack of sleep, lips parched, driving Jonah Davidovich. Think of Jonah, sitting comfortably in the coach behind Hanan, and dare deny that so much injustice makes it imperative for us to wait no longer. Dare tell Hanan to be patient! And what about Brokha-the-Laundress, do you know her? Pious and humble, she has lost her husband and kills herself working to feed her seven children, to send her three sons to school, to buy ingredients for a Sabbath meal. She does the housework, the laundry and the cooking for Ksil Messiver, the greengrocer. Ksil has the time and the meansto wait for the Messiah—but Brokha-the-Laundress! Think of her before you answer.”
    Ephraim expressed himself passionately; he disturbed me. We were alone, as usual, in the House of Study. Outside it was snowing. And as he talked, one by one, the candles burned down and went out. Ephraim swayed back and forth while talking as though we were studying a tangled commentary submitted by Rabbi Eliezer, son of Hyrkanos, on the purity and impurity of certain objects.
    “You’ll tell me it’s all up to God,” he went on. “You’re right, but only partly. Human suffering concerns God, of course, but it also affects us. Why do men make their fellow men suffer? Paltiel, that question concerns you and me!”
    “Who makes his fellow man suffer? The wicked and the miscreants. Their victims’ fate affects me, their own leaves me indifferent. The presence of the wicked in the world is a problem for the philosophers, and that I’m not. How can we explain the imperfection of Creation? And evil, and its appeal and power? Since the mystic response doesn’t satisfy you, read Maimonides. As for myself, I prefer to wait for the Messiah.”
    “Well, I feel sorry for you, you’ve got a long wait ahead of you.”
    “Why? Don’t you believe in the coming of the Messiah?”
    “Yes, Paltiel, I do. Every morning I pray for his coming, his early coming. Like you I recite the prayers. But he’s taking his time; meanwhile exile is a heavy burden to bear, especially for the poor: the laborers, the beggars. Do you understand, Paltiel? I’m willing to wait a year, a century—but the less fortunate can’t wait!”
    Little by little, slowly and systematically, he instilled in me his concept of the world. Only Communism allows man to overcome oppression and inequality swiftly. According to Ephraim, Communism was a sort of messianismwithout God, a secular, social messianism while waiting for the other, the true one.
    “Look around, Paltiel, look around here in Liyanov. On one side, the rich; on the other, the destitute. On one side, the powerful, on the other, the exploited. The rich are rich because the poor are poor—and the