Annika-The+Chosen 

=Biography: Chaim Potok=

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Chaim Potok (Herman Harold Potok) Harold Potok was born in the Bronx, to Benjamin Max and Mollie Potok. They were Jewish immigrants from Poland. Herman Potok's Hebrew name was Chaim Tzvi. He was raised with an Orthodox Jewish education and after reading=====

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Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, as a teenager he decided he wanted to become a writer. Potok graduated from Yeshiva University in English Lit. with a B.A.. summa cum laude (Kremer). He received a master's degree in Hebrew Literature, and his rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Potok joined the U.S. Army as a chaplain. he served in South Korea from 1955 to 1957. On June 8, 1958, he married Adena Sara Mosevitzsky, a psychiatric social worker. They met at Camp Ramah in 1952 in the Poconos (Kremer). Together they had three children: Rena, Naama, and Akiva. IN 1965-1974, Potok served as an editor for the Jewish Publication Society. In 1965, a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania was awarded to Potok. Later he wrote the award winning novel, The Chosen, while he and his family lived in Jerusalem. July 23, 2002, Potok died of brain cancer in Merion, Pennsylvania.===== =The Chosen= By: Chaim Potok

Plot Synopsis:
The Chosen is, all over, a story of the friendship between two teenage, Jewish boys (Bookrags). It is divided into 3 books with a total of 18 (looong) chapters. Along with the story of the two boys' friendship, it addresses the religious and cultural tensions that arise as the Jewish community clashes with the modern American society. The tall, sandy haired, Hasidic, Danny Saunders, and popular, smart, Modern Orthodox, Reuven (Bobby or Robert) Malter are the main characters. The author places the setting of the story in the 1940's, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City (Amazon). The second world was was coming to an end and we find ourselves in the middle of two Jewish neighborhoods. One Modern Orthodox, and the other, old fashioned Hasidic.

Summary:
In book one, our boys, Danny and Reuven, are seen first, placed on rival baseball teams. As tension in the game rises, Danny's Hasidic team starts to insult the faith of Reuven and his teammates. The game turns into kind of a holy war resulting with intense competition. It's the last inning and Danny is up to bat while Reuven is sent to pitch. Danny is known for his unique batting style; meaning he sends every ball speeding back up the middle, thus trying to kill pitchers. But Reuven is a skilled pitcher and supposedly, can strike anyone out. Angered by two unsuccessful attempts at hitting Reuven's pitches, Danny sends a line-drive straight towards him. The ball shatters his glasses, sending him to the hospital with an injured eye. Danny returns, later to try and apologize. After two unsuccessful attempts, Reuven's father suggests that he make peace with the boy, saying that "a boy like that needs friends" (Chapter 3). Reuven takes his father's advice and after becoming good friends with Danny, realizes why his father said what he said. He finds out that Danny's father permits him to practice baseball and read books only after he completes his required daily quota of Talmud-a whopping 4 pages a day. He could use good friend. Within the week of Reuven's stay at the hospital, Danny reveals the secret that he has a phenomenal photographic memory. It drives him to seek knowledge...Even if it is outside what is permitted. Danny also tells Reuven of his secret visits to the local library where he studies all sorts of books (including ones his father wouldn't approve of) and eventually meets a man; a Jewish man, who in his search for knowledge, gives him guidance on what books he should read and what is not worth his time. Though, it's only later that he finds the man to be Reuven's father. With this event, Chaim Potok ends Book 1 (Bookrags).

Book 2 skips ahead, mainly focusing on Reuven and Danny's high school years. By this time, the two boys have become very good friends; and to the point where Reuven starts to spend Shabaat afternoons at Danny's house. Eventually, Danny introduces Reuven to his father, Rabbi (Reb) Saunders. In one situation on Shabaat, Reuven witnesses a ritual, strange to him, where Reb Saunders quizzes Danny in front of the whole congregation. Reb Saunders later asks Reuven a question on the content of his sermon; Reuven answers it correctly, which, impresses him.

Danny and Reuven begin studying Talmud together, most afternoons, with Reb Saunders in the local library. During one of the sessions, Reuven learns that Danny's father believes in raising him in silence. The method is used to force the child to find compassion within his own heart, and to feel others' pain. Aside from discussions on Talmud, Reb Saunders never speaks to his son-directly (Potok 10) But it doesn't take long before he starts secretly using Reuven as a means of communication between them. The communication is made during Danny and Reuven's weekend conversations when the often get together.

In America, almost everyone is obsessed with the news on World War II. But on April 1945, news of President Roosevelt's death saddens the country (Bookrags). In May, Reuven and his father celebrate the end of the war in Europe (Potok), but are shocked by the discovery of the concentration camps. Everyone is disturbed by reports of what had been going on behind the fences, and reports of Jews suffering and death inflicted by Nazis cases great trauma. Meanwhile, Reuven is in school. His finals take place that spring but his father suffers a heart attack and he goes to live with Danny and his family. During his stay, Reuven learns of Danny's plans to study Freudian psychoanalysis instead of inheriting his father's as Rabbi and his position in the Hasidic community. All the while Danny hopes that his younger brother Levi can succeed his father in his place. In the fall, both boys are accepted to Hirsch College in Brooklyn where they attend together-ending Book 2 (Bookrags).

Book 3 sets down Reuven and Danny's experiences at Samson Raphael Hirsch Seminary and College. With the help of his photographic memory, Danny immediately becomes a leader of the Hasidic student body, but is disappointed by the college's emphasis on experimental, rather than Freudian, psychology (Potok 16). Unlike Danny, Reuven decides that he is committed to becoming a rabbi. At the same time, Reuven is also worried about his father, whose health is decreasing rapidly; partly due to the wild Zionist activity taking place in the community. Danny continues to be frustrated by the psychology curriculum (Experimental vs. Freudian), but Reuven's encouragement to talk to the professor helps to improve the situation. With new found knowledge, Danny comes to finally appreciate the value of the experimental method.

In the college and community, tensions over the establishment of a Jewish state become more intense. Reuven's father, David Malter, gives a highly publicized, Pro-Zionist, speech at Madison Square Garden. When Reb Saunders, who is very anti-Zionist, hears of the speech, he forbids Danny from speaking to Reuven. The silence between the boys lasts through their second year in college. The two boys both end up taking Rav Gershenson's advanced Talmud class, allowing them to interact-indirectly. Reuven's father suffers a second heart attack that year, and he starts to miss Danny's friendship terribly (Bookrags). The silence got to him. After Reuven's father returns from the hospital, the college is shaken with the news that an alumnus of Hirsch died in the fighting in Israel. Finally, during Reuven and Danny's third year in college, after the U.N. officially declares the creation of Israel and after is becomes clear that Israel will stay a permanent state, Reb Saunders gives in and allows the two boys to talk to each other again.

Danny and Reuven immediately resume their strong friendship. Over the summer, Reuven returns to Danny's house and goes to Danny's sister's wedding, seeing Reb Saunders again. Reuven still holds anger toward Danny's father, and ignores his invitations to Sabbath Talmud discussions. During the boy' final year at college, Reuven sees Reb Saunders again while attending Danny's brother's Bar Mitzvah. Again Reb Saunders invites Reuven over, but the request is still ignored.

Meanwhile, Danny secretly applies to graduate programs in psychology, but son realizes that his father will eventually see the letters from the schools in their mailbox (Bookrags). One night, after a discussion of Talmud with his father, Reuven realizes that Reb Sunders is asking him to come over so he can indirectly talk to Danny. Reuven goes to the house and Reb Saunders proceeds to use him as a buffer (Bookrags) to speak to Danny, explaining why he raised him in silence. He says he always knew his son had a great //mind,// but worried always that his //soul// was empty, unable to feel for others and feel the suffering in the world. Instead, he would just see it and remember it. He explains that through silence, Danny might explore his should and feel the suffering of the world (Kremer). In the end, Reb Saunders reveals a surprising secret that adds a twist to the story. But you'll have to read the book to find it out.

=What Worked?= There were many things that worked in this book, that's why it was a read that was hard to put down. One example of what worked would be the authors choice to tell a story of the boys' lives. He gives us a story that goes through the whole friendship of the boys, and that makes it more realistic compared to real life. For example: Reuven's injury caused by the baseball is one that could easily be real. And the way Danny comes to the hospital to apologize, is a clever way to bring the two boys together. Another thing that worked in the book, was the way the author gave us some background on why the Hasidic and Modern Orthodox Jews don't like each other. He brought it up secretly in the story that Reuven's father told him on the history of their Jewish ancestors. The tension between the different types of Judaism was an interesting and clever. Over all, this book worked in a whole, although there were some specific parts that I did not quite agree with.

=What Didn't?= Although the whole of the book worked, like a earlier stated, there were some parts that were not necessary, or could have been stated differently. For example, the author used an immense amount of dialogue. Sometimes it got confusing when trying to figure out who was supposed to be talking. The way that the author put in every detail of their lives and every detail into stories they told sometimes got to be boring. It would have been more effective for him to just give the reader an idea of what the story was about. Another thing that did not work in the author's favor was how he randomly brought in Danny's sister. Reuven mentioned her all of one time and that was it. When he mentioned her wedding, and how Reuven had had an interest in her was totally irrelevant to that part of the story and was completely random. She didn't have any effect on the characters and she didn't play any role. The book may have been great, but there were definitely things that could have been fixed or revised.

=Literary Information:= Book: The Chosen Author: Chaim Potok Genre: Novel Publisher: Simon & Schuster Point of View: Third-person, omniscient Setting: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City/ During WWII

=Why is this book Outstanding?= The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, is outstanding because it easily relates to real life. The author gives Reuven a common sport to play and the fact that he shows the competition between teams helps a reader who plays baseball, relate with the intensity of the game. Sometimes it may feel like a war, just like it was portrayed in the book. The friendship between the two boys is also a characteristic the book holds that can easily be related to. We all, at one point or another, have had or still have a best friend. And as we can all remember, there was or still is a bond that cannot be broken. Even by silence. The growth of the friendship is realistic and touches the reader. The way the boys connect through common interest is also something we, as people, can relate to. They had their Talmud and Jewish religion, where as we have certain hobbies or interests that bring us together. The novel had a good message throughout and the author was successful when it came to relating with his reader.

=Other books by Chaim Potok:=
 * Davita's Harp
 * My Name is Asher Lev
 * The Promise
 * Old Men at Midnight
 * The Book of Lights
 * I am Clay

=Why read __The Chosen__?= The Chosen is a good book to read because it appeals to a wide variety of people in the audience. It has a great message all through the book, it has an effective plot, and the characters are easily related to. The strong bond between two boys is one of friendship. As I mentioned earlier, people can easily relate to it. this happens through common interests, religions, or hobbies. The book teaches us the lesson that we can find the good in someone else no matter their differences. All we have to do is look for something deeper than we can see. The plot of the book goes through the boys' friendship from beginning to end. It helps the audience to understand how this bond formed and what brought them together. In conclusion, this book should be read because it relates to a great audience, the plot is effective and the audience can easily relate to the characters.

=Works Cited:= 1.Kremer, S. Lillian. "Chaim Potok Biography." Comp. Thomson Gale. 2005. 2006 ."Amazon.com: The Chosen: Chaim Potok: Books.

2. " Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more." 1999-2006. 21 Mar. 2009 .

3. "BookRags Book Notes on ." //BookRags//. Retrieved 25 March 2009, from the World Wide Web. http://www.bookrags.com/notes/cho/

4. Potok, Chaim "The Chosen" Simon and Schuster, June 1967