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Summary Of The Chosen By Chaim Potok

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In Chaim Potok’s novel, The Chosen, Reb Saunders, who is Danny’s father, is a very interesting and wise man. His techniques and beliefs for raising his son is strange and unorthodox but it is what he believes will help grow his son’s soul. He is not your typical father and being Jewish plays a role in his decisions. In the book we see how his actions are used and end with fruitful results. Reb Saunders grew up in a “small town in southern Russia” and was raised in the Jewish Orthodox customs. (P.117) He was raised just like he raises Danny and became a Tzaddik like his father did before him. After becoming the Tzaddik there, he led his people to America to escape the persecution which the Jewish population received during that time. The community he led was very strict in staying with the ancient traditions which have been passed down from generation to generation. They are very isolated and stay away from most modern living …show more content…

This approach seems harsh and unnecessary but Reb wants his son to be able to look inside his soul for the answers and deeply think about his decisions. This method is used to help raise Danny to become a great Tzaddik and take his father’s place. Reb is so true to this approach that he even asks Reuven, who is Danny’s best friend, why “Daniel (Danny) spends hours almost every day in the public library” and is curious of what “he reads” instead of asking his son directly. (P.165) Danny is a genius and is anxious to gather as much information as possible. He loves to read difficult and advanced literature and mathematical texts. Reb Saunders is concerned with this due to the fact that he wants his son to be enriched with only religious texts and knowledge that will help with his growth to become a Tzaddik. The interest Danny has gives Reb a deep concern with his son’s

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Reuven was glad that Danny came to visit again despite their previous encounter. after sending Danny away, he was surprised at his own actions and had come to regret it at the end. His own father reminded him that the Talmud says that if a person is willing to apologize for his own wrongdoing, then you must at least try to understand and forgive him and that is exactly what Reuven intends to do after feeling angry and depressed with himself from what he had said to Danny. Throughout this chapter, an unlikely friendship between the two boys develop. They begin to talk and learn more about one another rather than dwelling in fateful day of the ballgame; in other words, they let bygones be bygones.

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569 Words | 3 Pages

When they meet at the baseball field they judge each other based on rumors they have heard or by the actions of the team. Reuven thinks of them as the “whole snooty bunch of Hasidim” (Chosen 62). Reuven thought Danny was a malicious person because he knew that Danny purposely tried to hit him. But later when Reuven opened up to Danny and stopped being so judgmental, Reuven realized that Danny was kind and just needed a friend. When Reuven is hit with the baseball, there is a chance he might be blind.

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1558 Words | 7 Pages

In his book The Promise Chaim Potok leads the reader on a heartbreaking journey full of spiritual conflict and decision. As a sequel to The Chosen, The Promise picks up with Reuven Malter, the main character and a Jewish man now in his mid-twenties, attending Hirsch University, a Jewish seminary in Brooklyn, New York. Reuven keeps his friendship with Danny Saunders, whom he met on a baseball field during his teenage years and later went to college with, even though they now go their separate ways as Reuven becomes a rabbi, and Danny practices psychology. During the summer Reuven dates Rachel Gordon, the niece of Abraham Gordon, a man excommunicated from the Jewish society, and meets Abraham’s son, Michael, a stubborn teen with a mental issue. Also, over the same summer Reuven’s father, David Malter, wrote a controversial book about the Talmud.

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697 Words | 3 Pages

Although formulating these difficult decisions may result in hurting many, it shapes humans into stronger people. Throughout the book, Danny demonstrates brilliance as he constantly wants to learn new information, curiosity as he longs to know

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1271 Words | 6 Pages

Reuven while thinking about the situation with Danny says to himself “Poor Danny… your father with his bizarre silence-which I still couldn’t understand, no matter how often I thought about it-ia torturing your soul” (Potok 222). There are different connections between fathers

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1215 Words | 5 Pages

To choose or to be chosen; which is better? The gift of choice is something not bestowed upon everyone, and this is especially true for the main character of Chaim Potok’s The Chosen. The novel describes the life of two boys, Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter, one of which has been granted the freedom to choose his own destiny, and the other has already had his life mapped out since the day of his birth. Throughout his childhood and much of his adolescence, Danny struggled between the life he wants and the one chosen for him by his father, Reb Saunders, the rabbi a Hasidic congregation. As the eldest son of his family, Danny has been born into the position of the future rabbi of his temple, however, he yearns for something much different.

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533 Words | 3 Pages

As a human, our first reaction to something new is being curious. We can't really handle this instinct, it's just normal for us humans. In the short story “Zebra” by Chaim Potok, Zebra makes a new friend from Vietnam. This friendship started with a simple question asked from Zebra to John Wilson. The question blossomed the friendship as they continued to talk back and forth.

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476 Words | 2 Pages

Genuine friendships are excellent things to have. It’s nice to have somebody to confide in when you don’t know where to turn. In The Chosen, Reuven states that he “didn’t mean to offend you [Danny] or anything, I just want to be honest.’ ‘I want you to be honest’ Danny said.” (Page 119)

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476 Words | 2 Pages

During a lifetime you are forced to make many decisions. some may have your life on the line. Like the decisions that Elie had to make in the Memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. In the time that Wiesel and his father were in the concentration camps they were forced to make many decisions that would determine in they would live or die.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

Reb Saunders figures out as Danny grew up that he had very bright mind and desires more than the study of Hasidism. Reb Saunders was very considering when Danny told him he didn’t want to become the next tzaddik, because he already knew; and so he then passed it down to his next son, Levi

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1420 Words | 6 Pages

Instead of selfishly wanting to experience all of the world that he can, the Reb is content to make an impact on the lives of those he encounters while he is still here. For example, Mitch may have just forgotten about his old rabbi and his faith if the Reb had not asked Mitch to do his eulogy. The Reb decided to invest in Mitch and trust him to carry on his memory, especially by doing his eulogy. He must have had a lot of faith in Mitch to trust him in this way. This could have also been the Reb’s way of “touching everything”; he takes chances on people whenever her can in hopes of them remembering him and his

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

As said by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” This theme is presented many times throughout the story, “Zebra,” by Chaim Potok. The main character Adam, better known as Zebra, goes through several experiences that lead to his outlook on life changing. Overall his experiences render him to become a better person. One of the main experiences that changed Zebra was meeting John Wilson.

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1138 Words | 5 Pages

Studies have shown that peer support leads to improvement in self-management behaviors of dietary modifications, blood glucose monitoring, and increased physical activity (Murrock, Higgins, & Killion , 2009). Social support provided by peer, family and community members have been effective way to motivated individuals in continuing their attendance in health programs. Health behavior change theories and chronic disease management models highlighted that family support influence individuals affected with chronic illnesses into engaging in self-care behavior (Warren-Findlow & Prohaska, 2008). They are more encouraged by family members to engage in physical activity or weight loss programs. Peer support is also effective among individuals coping

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1147 Words | 5 Pages

Reuven’s father brings him up in a normal way, advising him to be wise and act wisely and actually was the one to encourage his friendship with Danny. Danny’s father, raises him differently, and in quite a unique method to too! He brings him up “in silence,” meaning not speaking to him or answering any questions he may have. At the end of the book, he reveals why he raised him in silence, and this is the most powerful display of affection he has given in the book, and arguably the most powerful display of affection throughout the book given by any character. The reason given for this is because he believes that all people have souls and minds.

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1815 Words | 8 Pages

Tell why Zebra cannot run anymore. In the short story, “Zebra,” by Chaim Potok, the main character, Zebra, has a passion for running. He attempted a risky run down a steep hill and built up too much momentum making it harder to stop. Out of nowhere, a car emerged and he began suffering from severe injuries.

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