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A review by jakub_oliver
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
emotional
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
From my Progressive Jewish background, I have long had a deep dislike for the Hasidic and Haredi Jewish communities. I feel there are many valid reasons to feel this way: their oppression of women, their cult-like separation from normal society, the fact that in Israel they form an impenetrable, cancerous voting bloc that always advocates for only the most despicably extremist legislation, and all underscored by an exclusivist, snobby attitude that they, and they alone, follow the sole correct type of Judaism. Moses, after all, famously wore a button-up white shirt and a fedora.
As it turns out, I share this attitude with Reuven Malther, the protagonist of Chaim Potok's The Chosen. The baseball match that opens the novel takes place between Reuven's Modern Orthodox Jewish school, and a Hasidic school, and (as the blurb of my edition says), "nearly becomes a religious war" as the Hassids call Reuven and his friends apikorsim, a derogatory term for a Jew that does not follow the commandments. But then, Reuven and Danny Saunders, the especially aggressive batsman of the Hasidic team, unexpectedly become friends. The way Potok paints their friendship is beautiful, and Danny Saunders is such a real and complex character. Over the course of the book, Reuven never entirely loses his distaste for Hasidism (and neither did I), but Danny, his Father the Hasidic Rebbe, and his followers are beautifully humanized to him and to the reader. Compared to, say, Netflix's Unorthodox, this felt like a much more nuanced and human portrayal of the Hasidic Jewish Community.
The writing style is very straightforward, and this irked me a little sometimes (I want to see the conversations, not just have them reported back to me!) But this is clearly a classic for a reason. (And I will forever be in awe of how Potok managed to make Talmud study seem cool and exciting.)
As it turns out, I share this attitude with Reuven Malther, the protagonist of Chaim Potok's The Chosen. The baseball match that opens the novel takes place between Reuven's Modern Orthodox Jewish school, and a Hasidic school, and (as the blurb of my edition says), "nearly becomes a religious war" as the Hassids call Reuven and his friends apikorsim, a derogatory term for a Jew that does not follow the commandments. But then, Reuven and Danny Saunders, the especially aggressive batsman of the Hasidic team, unexpectedly become friends. The way Potok paints their friendship is beautiful, and Danny Saunders is such a real and complex character. Over the course of the book, Reuven never entirely loses his distaste for Hasidism (and neither did I), but Danny, his Father the Hasidic Rebbe, and his followers are beautifully humanized to him and to the reader. Compared to, say, Netflix's Unorthodox, this felt like a much more nuanced and human portrayal of the Hasidic Jewish Community.
The writing style is very straightforward, and this irked me a little sometimes (I want to see the conversations, not just have them reported back to me!) But this is clearly a classic for a reason. (And I will forever be in awe of how Potok managed to make Talmud study seem cool and exciting.)