Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. F The Chosen many conflicts between thereligiousand secular, this emphasisontheTalmud presented thefirstof whose interestinfictionandliterature wasgrowing, on thestudyofTalmud, orJewish law. ForPotok, and attendedaJewishparochial schoolthatfocused of Jewsbutalsoimmigrantsfrommanynations. remembers avibrantcommunity, madeupnotonly family wentonpublicassistance.Buthealso Chaim remembershisfather’s shametheday in muchliketheBrooklyncommunity neighborhood Jewish communitiesofhisownyouth. setting familiartohim—thedeeplyreligious around them.Likemanyotherwriters,hechosea ship betweenindividualsandthelargersociety storytelling wouldhelphimexploretherelation- lenge. Hebecameanovelistbecausehebelieved and therestofhumanityhasbeenalifelongchal- When youwriteaboutonepersonorsetofpeople, The Chosen or ChaimPotok(pronounced creating alinkbetweenoneparticulargroup Potok was raised in an Orthodox Jewishfamily Potok wasraisedinanOrthodox Potok wasbornintheBronx,aNewYork City if youdigdeeplyenough,willultimately Study Guide . ThesonofapoorPolishimmigrant, uncover basichumanity. Meet ChaimPotok h ¯əm po ¯əm —Chaim Potok ¯ ta k ), story begunin Promise, seller, itestablishedhispopularreputation. 1967, wasactuallyhissecondnovel.Asabest- cultures thathefeelsandsees aroundhim: rather toexaminetheconstant tensionbetween never beentowritesolelyaboutJudaismbut and waswellreceivedbycritics.Potok’s goalhas (1978) presentsfourcenturiesofJewishhistory Wanderings: ChaimPotok’s HistoryoftheJews Hisnonfictionbook books andperiodicals. Theological SeminaryandhaseditedJewish study Judaism.PotokhastaughtattheJewish In additiontowritingnovels,hehascontinued of herschool. between herfamily’s politicsandtheJewishworld character, revolvesaroundayounggirlcaught Harp, unpublished until1981. of Lights. ences inKoreathatledPotoktowrite whom hehasthreechildren.Itwashisexperi- Korea, PotokmarriedAdenaMosevitsky, with from Judaism.Notlongafterreturning in Asia,helearnedofculturesentirelydifferent a militarychaplainduringtheKoreanWar. While ordained aConservativerabbi,andlaterservedas He alsobeganwritingfiction. understand andabsorbliteraturemorethoroughly. the worksofdifferentauthorsinanattemptto Talmudic study, Potoksystematically readthrough the powerofstorytelling.Usinghistrainingin writer EvelynWaugh, whichdrewhimforeverto them literaturewasadistractionfromtheTalmud. parents didnotapproveofhisinterestsbecauseto or nonreligious,aspectsofhislife.Histeachersand Chosen conflicts inthepresent. novels .aboutcertainkinds ofculture of myfaith.Ihavedonethisby writing I havespent Potok himselfstrivesforbalanceinhislife. After attendingYeshiva University, Potokwas At abouttheageofhismaincharactersin in whichReuvenMalterappearsasaminor , Chaimread published twoyearslater, continuesthe Although thiswashisfirstnovel,itwent [my life] The Chosen Brideshead Revisited in anevolvingreshaping The Chosen, . Alaternovel, published in The Book by British Davita’s The The 9 Introducing the Novel

. . . His speech rhythms are sometimes the brink of adulthood, Reuven and Danny must awkward, and the imagery blurred. And yet, build bridges to each other and to the world while Reuven talks we listen because of the story around them. They must learn to look for what he has to tell; and, long afterwards, it remains people share, rather than for what separates them. in the mind, and delights. THE TIME AND PLACE —Hugh Nissenson, New York Times Book Review The Chosen is set in Brooklyn, New York, during It was, above all, a story which cracked barriers the 1940s. World War II had been raging since so that we were made to look each other full in 1939. The United States, following the bombing of the face and see—not stereotypes and shadow but its naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, had already flesh and blood. been drawn into the war. Europe struggled to with- —Caroline Salvatore, Book World, Chicago Tribune stand Adolf Hitler’s tyranny while Asia faced The Chosen received mixed reviews from critics. aggression from Japan. Most Americans, including Nonetheless, the novel has appealed to many the deeply religious who lived in a somewhat readers over the years. Describing an America isolated manner in Brooklyn, were in some way deeply entrenched in World War II, the story is affected by the war effort. told in the first-person by 15-year-old Reuven Brooklyn is one of New York City’s five bor- Malter. Reuven lives with his father in an oughs, or sections. Settled by Europeans as early Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. Mr. as 1660, Brooklyn is home to more than two mil- Malter is a scholar and writer who studies the lion people. The borough is characterized by long Talmud. Reuven is enrolled at the local yeshiva, blocks of row houses and tree-lined streets. Some or Jewish parochial school. of the older neighborhoods have carefully pre- An accident during a baseball game brings served houses that are more than a hundred years Reuven together with Danny Saunders, a player on old. In the middle of Brooklyn is Prospect Park, the opposing team and the son of a Hasidic . which is designed so that its features look bigger The story unfolds as friendship develops between than they really are. Coney Island, whose beaches Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. the two boys. Despite the differences in their basic are popular with New Yorkers in the summer, is views of Judaism, they share many interests, espe- located at the southern end of Brooklyn. cially a keen interest in learning. As they mature Many Jewish immigrants came to Brooklyn in toward adulthood, both must make difficult the 1880s to escape persecution in Germany and choices and redefine their relationships to their eastern Europe. They founded enduring commu- fathers and to their faith. Both must also make nities in Brooklyn, such as Williamsburg (where sense of the momentous events around them—the The Chosen is set), Crown Heights, and Boro end of World War II, the horror of Adolf Hitler’s Park. Many of the Jews living in Williamsburg are crimes against Jews, and the controversy about Hasidic. On Friday evenings, large groups of whether to create a nation for Jews in . Both Hasidim clothed in black overcoats and fur- must decide what is most important to them and trimmed hats make their way to the synagogues be willing to make sacrifices for it. Like most of off Bedford Avenue. Potok’s other novels, The Chosen explores the issue of balancing personal values with values one finds in the surrounding world. Potok calls this a “core- to-core culture confrontation.” Danny, in particu- lar, finds his core value system at odds with the new world he encounters. As they stand poised on

10 The Chosen Study Guide Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Chosen of theBible,wasgivenbyGodtoMoses.They Jews believethattheTorah, orfirstfivebooks littleovertime.Orthodox faith haschangedvery Judaism. practice Orthodox ofJews movements. Onlyasmallpercentage andReform Conservative, Reconstructionist, branches ofJudaismincludetheOrthodox, Thefourmain Judaism haveemerged. conversation. everyday studyand English for for prayerandreligious JewsintheUnitedStatesuseHebrew Orthodox theylive. Many guage ofthenationwhere Jewsspeakthelan- language, mostmodern Talmud containsJewishlaw. BibleastheOldTestament.the Hebrew The to Bible.Christians refer books oftheHebrew and theTalmud. TheTorah includesthefirstfive Jewish tradition:theTorah, Bible, theHebrew sundown onSaturday. sundownonFridayto which forJewsisfrom andworship, faithshaveadayofrest three that Godisaguideandultimatelyjudge.All Islam andChristianity. faithsteach Allthree outofit— thatgrew mon withthereligions than manygods.Judaismhasmuchincom- was thefirstfaithtoworshiponeGodrather gions. Itdatesbackabout4,000yearsand Judaism isoneoftheoldestworld’sreli- Did You Know? The way that Orthodox Jewspracticetheir The waythatOrthodox branchesof Over theyears,different isthemain Hebrew Except inIsrael,where holyinthe considered textsare Three Study Guide eastern Europe. eastern speak Yiddish,afolklanguagethatevolvedin In additiontoHebrew, manyHasidimalso wear blackcoats,hats,andbeards. They Europe. Hasidic ancestorsineastern leader. Today, asdidtheir Hasidicmendress Chosen their sons.RebSaunders’scharacterin their people—apowertheythenpassedonto powerover leaders. Theserabbisgainedgreat intense loyaltytotheearlyHasidicspiritual feelingand withgreat People responded Jews. separatethandidotherOrthodox more theykepttheir communities ized. Asaresult, becomingtoomodern- Judaismfrom to protect Hasidimalsowanted person couldparticipate. worshipinwhichevenanuneducated heartfelt onthekindof tofocusmore their religion leaders, calledtzaddiks,wantedtoreshape began tolookatJudaisminanewway. These leaderswithinspiringpersonalities strong when Europe, eastern to eighteenth-century Jews iscalledHasidim.Thissectdatesback ofOrthodox divisions.Onegroup different lies, topray, texts. andtostudytheirsacred Jewstospendtimewiththeirfami- for Orthodox no workofanykind.TheSabbathisalsoaday any electricity, telephones,orcars;andtheydo aboutnotusing Sabbath, theyfollowstrictrules lives.Duringthe literallytotheireveryday very oftheTorah’sapply theirinterpretation laws Even within the Orthodox branch there are branchthere Even withintheOrthodox is basedontheimageofsucha The 11