Similarities And Differences In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, a young Jewish boy named Reuven meets a hasidic Jew by the name of Danny. These two boys have many similarities and differences, but what is perhaps the most important is the question of their future. Reuven has long wanted to be a rabbi once he grew up but for Danny, it wasn’t so simple, his future was chosen for him by his father, who was the Tzaddik of that particular Hasidic Jewish community. This means that Danny is supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps and become the next Tzaddik. While Danny has been trained to be a Tzaddik his entire life, only Reuven would come out to be a suitable religious leader. It is first important to understand that Reuven is not perfect. Reuven’s knowledge of the Talmud

Danny is so smart that he can’t be limited to just religion and it doesn’t take him long to branch out to other subjects, mainly psychology. Danny begins frequenting the library, studying books about psychology and mental studies, he evens teaches himself German so he is able to read Freud in his own language. Reuven’s father, David Malter, starts discussing these texts with Danny to help him digest the information that he has read and is amazed at how much Danny can absorb so fast. When Reuven talks about this with his father, Mr. Malter even says that the Jewish religion alone cannot satisfy Danny, he needs more than that. Danny even thinks that it is strange for Reuven to want to become a Rabbi because he sees it as something that he is forced to do because of who his father is, not a viable option for someone to choose as a career. Reuven however, actually wants to be a religious leader. While Danny studies Freud, Reuven is reading books on religious symbols. He dedicates his life to becoming a Rabbi as much as Danny dedicates his time to studying psychology. This dedication shows that Reuven has the passion to become a Rabbi and loves his religion, making him an excellent candidate for a religious