Reuven In Chaim Potok's The Chosen

At the beginning of the novel, their whole friendship wouldn't have started if one, Reuven didn't listen to his urging father and forgave Danny, and two, if Danny didn't stubbornly persist in visiting Reuven in the hospital, where he patiently waited for him to vent his anger. "Also, yesterday I hated him; now we were calling each other by our first names. I sat and

"I protested I was not a warrior. Verily I made all the excuses and pleadings that I could imagine might have effect upon this rude company of beings. I demanded that the interpreter convey my words to Buliwyf, and yet he turned away and left the hall, saying this last speech: ‘Prepare yourself as you think best. You shall leave on the morning light.'"

The relationship between Danny and Reuven is a very big theme in The Chosen. Danny and Reuven are two boys who have grew up within a few blocks of each other, but in two entirely different worlds. They meet for the first time in at a school baseball game between their two Jewish schools. Even though at first their only feeling for each other is one of hatred, they eventually get over their differences and become the best of friends. They learn a lot about each other and about the others life and religion. The boys’ fathers have very different views and that’s gets them in trouble. Danny’s father disagrees with Reuven’s father’s point of view on a certain topic, and forbids Danny from ever seeing Reuven again. After some time Reb gets over himself and permits Danny to see Reuven again. This situation goes back to the fathers’ ways of raising their child and their view on their religion.

man appears in a variety of aspects throughout the book. When Reuven first meets Michael, Michael acts like a spoiled brat. However, the more Reuven gets to know him, he learns that Michael has a mental condition and has trouble controlling his anger at times. During Reuven's time at seminary, Rav Kalman repeatedly challenges him in his education; however, it turns out Rav Kalman needed someone to talk to and fill a hole in his heart. After Reuven and Rachel broke up, it must have been a tense situation, especially for Reuven, when Rachel started dating Danny. Surprisingly, Reuven and Danny's friendship remains as strong as ever. Even though the man vs. man conflict evidently arises in multiple situations, Potok resolves all of them quite

One of first things Danny did when he talked to Reuven was insult him and call him an ‘apikorsim’, which is a Jew that is not following the basic rules of their faith. After the accident, Reuven refused to accept Danny’s apology and wanted to make him feel as bad as possible. He insulted him multiple times when Danny visited him in the hospital and told him to leave without even listening to him. But when he told his father about what he did, he was told to make Danny his friend and not to push him away. The next day, Danny came to visit him again. He apologized for his behavior the previous day and accepted Danny’s apology to him. After Reuven put aside his anger at the Hasidic boy they were able to become friends. It turned out that their difference of religion did not make any noticeable difference in their friendship at all, contrary to what both once

Danny and Reuven represent deeply committed friends. Their live intertwine when historical circumstances , religious realities, and their father's differences in child rearing dramatically affect their respective senses of security and happiness.

After Reuven initially wakes up, Danny visits him in the hospital to apologize. “‘I am sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll just bet you are,’ I told him. He…turned and walked slowly away.” After Reuven tells his father of the events, his father tells him that he should have listened. This response on David’s part initially caused Reuven to listen to Danny when he returned the second time.

Reb confides in Reuven in hopes that Reuven will share his wisdom with Danny. Reuven doesn’t understand how Reb is using him until the end of the book. Reb attempts to shine light on Reuven when he says, ‘It is never pleasant to be a buffer Reuven’ (Potok 170). Reb continues to speak to Reuven, “You have become a

On the other hand, Reuven and David mutually support the notion that the lines of communication between them should always be open. Whenever Reuven struggles with a problem or simply a question, regardless the significance, he comes directly to his father for assistance. David listens intently and offers a few suggestions or delivers a thorough answer to his son’s query. For example, when Reuven wonders about Danny, David answers with a lengthy and detailed account. This demonstrates not only the comfort they bear in talking to each other but also the patience they’ve developed that has stemmed from their communication. Despite their lack of communication, Reb Saunders and his son share the same admiration, respect, and trust for each other that are consistent with Reuven’s and David’s relationship.

He showed that although people may be from different sects or religion, they could still be friends. Not only that, through Danny and Reuven, Potok shows that friendship could blossom from anything, even from dislike. From absolutely hating each other, especially due to their different religion, to practically depending on each other like brothers, Danny and Reuven demonstrates how tight their friendship is by being bluntly honest with each other. In chapter 4 of The Chosen, Reuven plainly says to Danny, “..You look like a Hasid, but you don’t sound like one. You don’t sound like my father says Hasidim are supposed to sound like. You sound almost as if you don’t believe in God.” Being completely honest with a person is not always easy. However, Potok shows the essence of friendship is through honesty as

When it comes to Danny and Reuven there friendship is nothing but surprising. Reuven even understands that there chance friendship is like none other, written in the book he thinks “Danny and I probably would never have met...had it not been for...the Jewish parochial schools to show the gentile world that yeshiva students were as physically fit...” (13). With their differing Jewish traditions a reunion like the one in the hospital is unbelievable. Even though they are different they continue on in their friendship, but still carry on respectfully in their customs. Some differences are the secularity of Reuven differing with Danny’s safe and strict rituals. They both are Jews and hold many of the same traditions, but struggle with some of their differences. Such as when Reuven held onto Zionist customs and Reuven was forced to take a break with their friendship. Even through a major obstacle of religious traditions the boys were able to stay united

Repeatedly throughout the book we see Mr. Malter earnestly advising Reuven to befriend Danny. Once they are friends, he is persistent in making sure that Reuven is there for him, and supports Danny. Mr. Malter was not only aware of Danny's brilliant mind, but he understood his anxiousness to leave Hasidism. This desire was not stemmed from bitterness, although that by no means would have been unwarranted. However, Danny's desire was driven by him not wanting to be tzaddik, but to be a psychologist. There is a scene in the book where Reuven watches a fly caught in a spider's web. Intently Reuven observes as the fly struggles to escape the web, before the spider can make it's way to it. Reuven blows at the fly, attempting to help free him from

Reuven meets many different types of people, but he always shows a mature and openminded attitude, genuinely wanting to understand the beliefs of others. He never criticizes someone solely because of what or who they believe in, rather, he ponders their beliefs and asks intelligent questions in order to better understand. “I want you to go on”. (pg. 101) Legitimately wanting to understand this other religion, Reuven intently listens to his father’s long story and even when asked, presses his father to continue on. This reveals that Reuven truly wanted to learn something new, even if it didn’t match up directly with his own beliefs. Another example is the way Reuven conducts himself when Danny takes him to meet Reb Saunders. Reuven sits quietly, taking in all that is going

To begin with, Reuven Malter demonstrates many of his different types of gifts throughout the story. Two of the key traits Reuven reveals are the gifts of compassion and the mind for logic. In the beginning of the book Danny tries to kill Reuven by hitting him with a baseball, however he later comes and apologizes to him and Reuven forgives him (Potok, 70). Not everyone, when provided with a chance, will forgive someone who wronged them. Instead of harboring onto his frustrations Reuven graciously forgives Danny, an act that takes great compassion to fulfill. Another example of Reuven’s gifts in the book is his ability to solve logic problems, “Well, they try to deduce all of mathematics from

To begin with, Reuven Malter demonstrates many of his different types of gifts throughout the story. Two of the key traits Reuven reveals are the gifts of compassion and the mind for logic. In the beginning of the book Danny tries to kill Reuven by hitting him with a baseball, however, he later comes and apologizes to him and Reuven forgives him (Potok, 70). Not everyone, when provided with a chance, will forgive someone who wronged them. Instead pf clinging onto his resentments Reuven graciously forgives Danny, an act that requires great compassion to fulfill. Another example of Reuven’s gifts is his ability to solve logic problems, “Well, they try to