In Chapter 1 of Night, Moche the Beadle stumps Elie when he asks him both of these questions. Elie is unable to give a reason for why he prays and why his prayers causehim to cry other than a stirring inside him that produces the need to weep. When Moche asks him why he prays, Elie thinks, "Why did I live? Why did I breathe?" To him praying is a basic necessity, almost the essence of life.
Wiesel includes these conversations with his religious mentor to establish not only how strong his faith was before deportation but also to demonstrate how empty he becomes by the end of his horrific ordeal.
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