The Chosen Chaim Potok’s novel, The Chosen, narrates a story about a friendship between two boys, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, that was doomed for conflict. This conflict is driven by the fact that they were both raised on differing Jewish beliefs. The boys’ fathers are key characters in the story that have trying to teach these boys to grow into the adults that were born to be. However, there is a great deal of growing that the fathers do as well. More specifically, David Malter finds his purpose in life when chaos hits the Jewish community during World War II. David Malter wouldn’t have found his sense of purpose without the aid of the Sacred. Rendering to Huston Smith, author of the Illustrated World’s Religions: A guide to Our …show more content…
Malter is known to be a lover of knowledge. Having this great characteristic allows him to combine his knowledge with his strong religious beliefs. This gives him the ability to teach his son life lessons that differ from the Hasidic traditions. Mr. Malter states “From the time that Danny was about six or seven until the end of his last year in college, Reb Saunders, Danny’s father, had deliberately created a barrier or silence between himself and his son, except when they studied Talmud together. He was frightened of Danny’s cold brilliance; he wanted to teach his son what it meant to suffer” (Potok 88). Reb Saunders, is the father of Danny Saunders, who teaches his son the Hasidic Jewish tradition. Reb Saunders is extremely harsh with his child because he is always trying to make him suffer. However, Mr. Malter approaches things differently. He has a more caring demeanor and wants to help his son find the true meaning of his life. It is evident throughout the book that he believes that everyone is created for a special purpose and that people are put on this earth to do a special job. Mr. Malter knows the importance of secular knowledge and wants his son to understand it as well. This allows him to allow his son to pursue a profession in the secular world without fear of Reuven to ignore his practice of Orthodox Judaism. Reuven is excellent in math and dealing with numbers. Mr. Malter thinks that Reuven should follow what he has been gifted with from God and become a mathematician. However, Reuven doesn’t want to become a mathematician, he wants to follow his dream and become a rabbi. When Mr. Malter hears that Reuven doesn’t want to be a mathematician, he is nothing but accepting. Throughout The Chosen, Mr. Malter aids in Reuven’s decision to select a profession that will fulfill his purpose in