Elie Wiesel lived his early childhood in the town of Transylvania, in Hungary, during the early 1940s. At a young age, Elie took a strong interest in Jewish religion, while he spent most of his time studying the Talmud. Eventually he makes aquaintances with Moshe the Beadle who takes Elie under his wing, and also instructs him more in depth of the ways of the Talmud and cabbala. Elie is taught to question God for answers through Moshe's instruction. Moshe is sent away to a concentration camp, and upon his return, Elie finds that he has changed dramatically. This is a foreshadowing of what will become of Elie's faith in the strength and power of God. "Moshe had changed.He no longer talked to me of God or the cabbala, but only of what he had seen."(4) The first evidence of Elie's loss of faith, is while he questions God during the selection process. This process is concerned with separating the young, strong, and healthy Jews, from the old, weak, sickly, and/or infants. The Jews were separated from their loved ones who were immediately sent to the crematory or burned in large fire pits. Elie says goodbye to his mother and sister, unknowing that it will be the last time that he will ever see them again. Many of his fellow Jews began to pray and recite the Kaddish, a Jewish prayer for the dead, with hopes to console their own grievances for the loss they had suffered. However, Elie questions, "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) Elie witnesses a load of children being dumped into a pit of flames which he labels as the "Angel of Death," and at this point, the diminishing effects of the first night of camp life are already taking a toll on Elie's religious faith and personal self-worth. The final deterioration of Elie's idea of God, where he renounces all belief in His existence, is during the funeral of 3 Jewish males who were hanged the day before.