The Chosen, By Chaim Potok: Summary

Between small southern settlement in Macomb and New York City during World War II, one catches my eye more than the other. Harper Lee did a spectacular work regarding To Kill a Mockingbird, but The Chosen by Chaim Potok hooked my interest in a greater capacity. Put more specifically, racism in court down south does not have the same pull on my attention that the setting of Jews during World War II does. Potok shows readers the friendship of two Jewish boys, Reuven and Danny. With a serious and dramatic feel, the boys travel to and through their college years in the midst of the war and religious sensitivity amid their two families. Potok’s book brings the setting of World War II, religious sensitivities, and emotional distress together into a book that will remain one of my favorites. The holocaust killed six million Jews. That horrible event affects the lives of Reuven and Danny. Listening to the radio and reading about the holocaust in the newspaper, Reuven’s father Mr. Malter takes it upon himself to speak out for Zionism, creating a Jewish state, with the justification that the Jews cannot have died in vain. However, when Danny’s father Reb Saunders, an avid anti-Zionist, hears of Mr. Malter’s speeches, Danny and Reuven’s friendship dissolves into absolute silence. It

The ball game between Reuven’s team and Danny’s team demonstrates the tension between Hasidic Jews and modern Jews. Tempers flare when Danny calls Reuven apikorosim, ending in Reuven almost losing his eye. Less physically, the battle between Zionists and anti-Zionists raged between the two sides. At the dinner table, Reb Saunders exploded with anger at the mere mention of Zionism. I had never known how seriously two ends of the same religion could jump at each other’s throats, metaphorically. The distemper and tension of the two sides reveals how sensitive one must act when dealing with religious