Chaim Potok

The Chosen

Isabella Martinez 

84 Now it was my turn to be astonished, You know Dannyfr "In a way," my father said, smiling broadly. CHAIM POTOK "I-I had no idea," Danny stammered. "And how could you have?" my father asked. "I never told you my name." Wis itle bit more ditic im his You knew me all the time" ote it completely, ret "Only after the second week. I asked the librarian. You ap plied for membership once, but did not take out a card." Cneo I ask hím his snd I utderstand SOr gt Onco I 2sk him snd I go to anoth "I was afraid to." "I understood as much," my father said. dat Reb Saunders sor td in psychology, he k Iis now almost t d aRommendations, T Rerven, I should tke wished, pot for Ir father coughed I suddenly realized it was my father who al along had been suggesting books for Danny to read. My father was the man Danny had been meeting in the libraryl aterchiet. The three

81 THE CHOSEN nlwhat he had told me. I couldn't get over the fact that this was Danny Saunders, the son of Reb Saunders, the tzaddik. "Can I be honest with you?"I asked him, "Sure," he said. "Im all mixed up about you. Im not trying to be funny or thing abou tching d sar- turns others I's anything. I really am mixed up about you. You look like a Hasid, but you don't sound like one. You don't sound like what my father says Hasidim are supposed to sound like. You sound almost as if you don't believe in God." He looked at me but didn't respond. "Are you really going to become a rabbi and take your fa- 66Veg he said quiety ther's place?"

Then I saw Danny come up the aisle and stop at my bed. He was wearing the dark suit, the dark skullcap, the white shirt open at the collar, and the fringes showing below his jacket. My face must have mirrored my happiness at seeing him because he broke into a warm smile and said, You look like I'm the Messiah, I must haye made some impression yes back almost untOUCneL. sa mission in life "What missio "To obey Goc Don't you be He lonked him. terday." Irinned at him, Its just good to see you," I told

linda

Required reading; not the biggest fan, but did enjoy learning more about Judaism and particularly the Hasidic community. This is one of the few books about Judaism but no focused on the Holocaust, although it does take place primarily during the war years.

Following a baseball game that nearly became a religious war, two Jewish boys become friends. Danny comes from the strict Hasidic sect that keeps him bound in centuries of orthodoxy. Reuven is brought up by a father patently aware of the twentieth century. Everything tries to destroy their friendship, but they use honesty with each other as a shield and it proves an impenetrable protection.

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“Reuven, you and your father were a blessing to me. The Master of the Universe sent you to my son. He sent you when my son was ready to rebel. He sent you to listen to my son's words. He sent you to be my closed eyes and my sealed ears. I looked at your soul, Reuven, not your mind. […] But your soul I knew already. I knew it when my Daniel came home and told me he wanted to be your friend. Ah, you should have seen his eyes that day. You should have heard his voice. What an effort it was for him to talk to me. But he talked. I knew your soul, Reuven, before I knew your mind or your face. A thousand times I have thanked the Master of the Universe that He sent you and your father to my son.” 

Man. MAN.

Hannah Wall

A very powerful story about friendship, life, and the religion of Hasidism. 
It deals in the perspective of the Hasidic with the horribleness of Hitler and the German concentration camps and the start of a Jewish State- Israel. 
Such a powerful message that should not be forgotten.

The Chosen

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