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The Chosen: A Core-to-Core Confrontation

© Susan Jensen

In the movie "Fiddler on the Roof," Tevia, a Jewish father is plagued by the unorthodox decisions his oldest three daughters are making. The oldest wants to marry a poor tailor. Although Tevia is unhappy with the decision, he allows the marriage because the tailor is a devoted Jew and because the couple is in love. The second daughter wants to marry a revolutionary. Again, Tevia is unhappy. However, he lets the marriage take place because his daughter's fiancee is also Jewish and a good man, although he has some strange ideas. His third daughter, however, wants to marry a man who is not Jewish. Tevia is furious. He tosses the idea around, but angrily shouts, "On the other hand . . . there is no other hand!" In his eyes, marrying outside of the Jewish faith is the worst step the young woman could possibly take. When she and the Gentile wed, Tevia considers her dead.

The story is famous for its emphasis on tradition. It explores the benefits and consequences of rigidly clinging to the way things have always been done. Without tradition, Tevia says, things would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.

This conflict, adhering strictly to tradition or exposing oneself to outside influences, is one that Chaim Potok examines in his classic novel, The Chosen. Through the character of Danny Saunders, the son of a powerful Hassidic leader, we see what happens when tradition meets influences from the outside. A brilliant student, Danny loves to read and explore thoughts and ideas. He knows the Talmud thoroughly, which pleases his father. However, his thirst for knowledge does not stop at religious writings. Behind his father's back, he selects secular literature to study. In particular, he chooses Freud. His world of tradition and time-honored customs explodes and he comes face-to-face with the threatening outside world. To Danny's father, this is a sharpened knife that will slice through his Hassidic way of life. In the end, Reb Saunders must accept the path his son has chosen.

This "core-to-core confrontation" is one that Chaim Potok himself experienced. When he was a young man, he discovered literature. This revolutionized his thinking and led him to become a writer. His father, who wanted him to become a teacher of Talmud, was disappointed. Yet, like Danny, he went on to college and earned advanced degrees.

The Chosen examines many other conflicts and binaries, including those between fathers and sons, different types of Jews, the Old World and the New World, and methods of learning. It is deeply philosophical, yet warm and endearing. The reader seeps into a detailed world of Brooklyn Jews and emerges feeling reborn.

The copyright of the article The Chosen: A Core-to-Core Confrontation in Classic Literature is owned by Janet Kay Blaylock. Permission to republish The Chosen: A Core-to-Core Confrontation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.