The Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Chaim Potok
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Book Reviews of The Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Book Review: famous flawed and fascinating
Summary: 3 Stars
This famous book is as flawed as it is fascinating. Basically an historical narrative about how a small Orthodox Jewish community in New York City coped with the strains of World War II, the horrifying revelations about the Holocaust, and the unexpected and dramatic rise of the State of Israel, the book reads like a literary newsreel. Were it not for the fascination of the historical events themselves, however, the book would be quite boring. The characters are shallow and stereotypical in both their words and actions. Much of the book is long winded narrative and preachy monologue. It is almost like a 300 page religious discourse. Some of the book's more serious flaws are listed below.
(1) The main character's father, Rabbi David Malter, provides a long explanation to his son, Reuven, for the rise of the Hassidic movement that splintered Jewish Orthodoxy into rival sects back in the 1700s. He describes the founder of Hassidism, Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, as a genuine spiritualist, whose miracle cures were accomplished via his practical knowledge of healing plants and herbs, not via superstitious incantations and mystical powers as later legends would report. But the father's attitude to subsequent generations of Hassidic leaders is considerably less charitable, depicting them as greedy powerbrokers preying on the fears and superstitions of their followers.
(2) This jaundiced view, however, is contradicted by the Hassidic rabbi, Reb Saunders, who is father of the other main character, Danny. This man is extremely erudite and seems to differ from Rabbi Malter only in dress and outward comportment, not in matters of substantive belief or knowledge.
(3) The only serious point of contention between the two rabbi-fathers concerns the Zionist movement, which Reb Saunders adamantly opposes due to its secular nature, while Rabbi Malter actually becomes one of the movement's major North American spokesmen. This leads to a two-year rupture in the friendship between the two teenagers, Reuven and Danny.
(4) Unfortunately, the author Potok allows his own enthusiasm for Zionism to intrude here and fails to give a fair hearing to Reb Saunders' opposition to Zionism. Reb Saunders had a brilliant brother back in Europe who left the faith, became a secular Jewish intellectual and professor, and eventually was murdered in the Holocaust. Reb Saunders cannot accept Rabbi Malter's belief that the establishment of the State of Israel will serve as a vindication of the Holocaust victims, many if not most of whom were secular Jews, since that State too would be a secular entity. Reb Saunders' view is very reasonable, and it continues to be shared by many Hassidic adherents to this day (cf. the Naturay Karta Movement), but Potok fails to give it due consideration and seems to ridicule it as reflective of the kind of primitivism that evidently he feels characterizes Hassidism in general.
(5) Potok's prejudice also shows when, following a series of Arab attacks on Jewish settlements in Palestine following Israel's unilateral declaration of independence in May 1948 (a declaration that actually violated the terms of the UN Partition Plan for Palestine), the Hassidim terminate their anti-Zionist campaign at the local yeshiva. I have known anti-Zionist Hassidim personally, and anti-Jewish Arab violence does not mitigate their own anti-Zionist beliefs at all. Rather it confirms to them that Zionism itself, as a destabilizing movement, alone bears responsibility for all the tragic violence in Palestine, whether Jew against Arab or Arab against Jew. Perhaps this depiction of the sudden silence of the anti-Zionist Hassidim reflects Potok's own experiences growing up, but the reader should not believe for one minute that anti-Jewish Arab atrocities alter in any way shape or form the anti-Zionist beliefs of Hassidic groups like Naturay Karta; indeed in many ways these atrocities actually strengthen their resolve to oppose the Zionist movement.
(6) Conversely, while Rabbi Malter deplores instances of anti-British and anti-Arab violence committed by Jewish terror groups like the Irgun (Menachem Begin's organization), his disillusionment is ephemeral and within a few days he returns to his pro-Zionist lobbying efforts. Rabbi Malter's reaction is almost a caricature of Jews: wringing their hands over moral dilemmas but unable, in the end, to allow those dilemmas to catalyze within them a new perspective that will help them repudiate their ill-founded and unwarranted beliefs. Rabbi Malter stands exposed, in this regard, as a morally shallow person, making cynical utilitarian calculations without even being aware of it. And there is clear evidence that the more ruthless and cynical Zionist leaders, to this day, know that whatever crocodile tears ethical Jews like Rabbi Malter might shed, as soon as they wipe them away and dry their cheeks their enthusiasm for Zionism will return unabated, and indeed strengthened.
(7) This is perhaps the most glaring example of Potok's own prejudices marring the novel, since Rabbi Malter emerges clearly as the hero of the book, which concludes with Reb Saunders retreating into a kind of self-imposed shell and appearing a much less self-confident and polished person, ill equipped to deal with the complexities of balancing traditional religious values and customs with the exigencies of the modern world.
There admittedly is a lot of interesting material about the inner workings of Orthodox Jewish life: daily prayers, dietary laws, Sabbath and Festival celebrations, and most of all Yeshiva studies, including detailed depictions of Talmudic study and Talmud classes, with their unique culture of erudite exegesis. The book seems to assume a certain amount of Jewish background knowledge, however.
If you are interested in a general depiction of Orthodox Jewish life that accurately characterizes today's Jewish communities, both in and out of Israel, this book is worthwhile reading, but be vigilant for the kinds of flaws and prejudices mentioned above.
Book Review: A novel about the relationships between fathers and sons.
Summary: 3 Stars
The book, The chosen by Chaim Potok was a great novel telling about the lives of two different jewish boys. This book was fairly intesting because it told of the lives of two boys who have different religous beliefs. They live their lives happily as friends, not caring what anyone has to say about them. In a small part of the city of Brooklyn, New York, there are many types of jewish people. The book described what it was like to be a jewish boy in the big city. Chaim Potok titled it The Chosen because these two boys were the ones chosen to represent their jewish communities. The book told a lot of things that most people would not know about the jewish religion. The Chosen is a good teenagers book and might be a good novel for a family memberto read. I reccomend this for many people to read it is a great novel.Book Review: The Chosen is a fascinating story
Summary: 3 Stars
The Chosen is a fascinating book about two boys and their friendship. Reuven Malter an orthodox jew and Danny Saunders the other boy is a hassidic jew. These two boys develope a relationship through a baseball game where reuven is hit in the eye with a baseball and is hospitalized. The boys learn some things that shock them about eachothers fathers.Reuven learns Dann's father is bringing him up in silence which means he won't talk to him unless studying Talmud. I give this book three stars and I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the jewish religion. This book reveals much about hassidic jewish life.Book Review: This book was very educational and good
Summary: 3 Stars
The book The Chosen By Chaim Potok, is an educational and touching story about two jewish teenage boys and thier frinedship. One of the boys, Danny Saunders is a Hasidic Jew and Reueven Malter is a orthodox Jew. They both live different lifestyles, and it was only by chance that they became frineds. While reading this book I learned what two different Jewish cultures were like. I highly recomend this book. It was a good read and a well written story.Book Review: This book was very educational and good
Summary: 3 Stars
The book The Chosen By Chaim Potok, is an educational and touching story about two jewish teenage boys and thier frinedship. One of the boys, Danny Saunders is a Hasidic Jew and Malter is a orthodox Jew. They both live different lifestyles, and it was only by chance that they became frineds. While reading this book I learned what two different Jewish cultures were like. I highly recomend this book. It was a good read adn a well written story.