how did elie realize his with to study the cabala?

Elie's father believes he is too young to study the Kabbalah and discourages him by repeatedly telling him, "There are no Kabbalists in Sighet." Elie, on the other hand is devastated at his father's discouragement and goes to the synagogue every evening, while continuing his studies of the Talmud.

One night, Moishe the Beadle finds Eliezer crying (they have become friends), and being well educated in the Kabbalah himself, Moishe instructs Elie until he is expelled from Sighet by the Hungarian police as a foreigner.