Yiddish Literature - Essay Example

‘Joy’ is the story of a Rabbi who loses faith in his God with the adversities in his life. The Rabbi loses his children to death through sickness. His wife’s nagging and the tragedy makes him to question the existence of God. His faith trembles and he talks of shifting his belief to religion that believe in idol worship (Singer 32). He realizes that everything exist because his body makes him to feel the existence. Through the touch of the Berries and the cold water, he understands that the existence is momentary and so he does not have to worry about anything as he can’t do anything about it (Singer 33).

This is the fact of life. When you experience difficulties that goes beyond your capacity of suffering, you start losing faith in your religious beliefs and question the existence of God. The absurdity of the situation is realized by the Rabbi in his deathbed. He sees the figures of his four sons, two daughters, grandfather and his father in the form of light and realizes that even when they are trying to come close to him, there is a restraint exercised on them which looks like fence.

He becomes enlightened and just before dying tells Reb Abraham Moshe that one should always be joyous (Singer 37). The grotesque element makes him realize there is no point in missing the opportunity of being joyous on earth in hope of getting the joy or freedom after death in heaven. Vasil is a boy who hates and fears violence in his childhood but grows to be a soldier who resorts to violence and kills hundreds of his enemies himself.

As a child he suppresses his fears