Many reviewers found Elie Wiesel’s 1999 book “The Judges” difficult and abandoned it before reaching the end. They enjoyed the dozens of this Nobel Peace Prize winners’ books but dismissed this one, although it is in easy-to-read English, because they could not understand what was happening. Who were the seven people in the drama? What do they want? Is this a crime novel? Is it a tragedy? They are both right and wrong. True, the first hundred pages of this 209-page work reveal less than it exposes.

But this is not bad. It is good. If something is easy, it is probably wrong. If it is difficult, it builds character. In his Guide for the Perplexed 3:24, Maimonides states that the Hebrew Bible mentions people experiencing trials six times. “People generally have the notion that trials consist in afflictions and mishaps sent by God to man … as a punishment for sins.” But this is not correct.

Trials should be understood as experiences from which we can learn. “The sole object of all the trials mentioned in Scripture is to teach man what he ought to believe; so that the event which forms the trial is not the end desired; it is an example for our instruction and guidance.”[1] Difficulties do not harm us; they are experiences from which we can learn and improve. This reassurance should make readers feel at ease, knowing that the book’s challenges are not harmful but beneficial.

Psalm 126, sung by many Jews before saying grace at the end of the Shabbat meal, thanking God for the food, put the thought this way: “Those who plant with tears will reap with glee.”

Yes, each of the seven people in the tale who are flying from the US to Israel has a past that is obscure, troubling, and a reason why they are traveling to Israel, but we do not know who they are, their past, their distresses, concerns, and why they are making this trip. This disconcerted some readers. But those who persevered and continued to the book’s second half got answers. And they learned from understanding the experiences of the seven and improved themselves.

The plane they were traveling in encountered a severe snowstorm and needed to land in a rural US area. Passengers are told they must be boarded in different locations until the storm passes, which may be more than a day. Five of them end up in the home of a bizarre man and his deformed servant. The owner imprisons them and forces them to perform strange activities. Readers will wonder if the strange man who is imprisoning them is crazy or if he has a rational reason for his behavior. They will also wonder about the servant. Why is he misshapen? Why is he more like a slave than a servant? Again, facing the difficulty in unraveling the mystery yields much that improves our thinking and behavior.

 

[1] The translation is by Dr. M. Friedlander from the original Arabic text.