The Chosen

"The author set it up really well what he wanted to say through his characters. Something that touched or ‘spoke’ to me was when Reuven’s dad has a talk with him after recovering from his second heart attack.<br/><br/>“We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life….I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so it’s quality is immeasurable though it’s quantity may be insignificant…A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one’s life with meaning…”<br/><br/>This book has a more thoughtful, philosophical tone to me that leads one to question a little about the meaning of life, the questioning of truth, how even one religion can have different beliefs and truths, and it is okay to curiously question and wonder why a person/group of people think a certain way.<br/>Reuven and Danny had a complicated childhood friendship especially with their family’s differences within the Jewish religion. Danny’s family were part of the Hasidism sect where they still studied the Talmud and other scholarly rabbinic commentaries to be able to study thoroughly and not leave their people to question the faith, but had a different way to teach and raise a son who will take over their father’s position as a tzaddik in silence. <br/><br/>I also agree with Reuven’s father about not appreciating how Reb was ‘raising’ his son in silence. To me that’s almost on the borderline of emotional abuse, were it not for his dad only talking to him while they studied the Talmud together. And then the Hasidic sect thought it was sacrilegious for Jews wanting to set up a Jewish community in Palestine, thinking it was them trying to raise up a “holy” people in an “unholy” place (from what I understood). A lot of political argument seemed to come from that notion and split the communities apart until there was more suffering involved on part of their people. It was funny to me how Britain got involved and didn’t know how to get out of the fight between the 2 countries. It was also very hard on the people to know loved ones had been part of the holocaust and died in those training camps with an estimate of 6 million of their people having died. It’s an awful and mind blowing news to receive. All you can first-rate react and feel (I imagine) is shock, sorrow, and maybe anger.<br/><br/>“…even in religion people differed about what God was, so why shouldn’t scientists take issue with other scientists?”"

"This was a good book. I read it for class. It was actually really interesting. I love the story of their friendship. I like that at the end Danny's father accepts that Danny doesn't want to take his father's place. It is a great story between their friendship. The beginning of the book was very engaging. I was not expecting the book to start off with a baseball game. I love the characters that were in this story."

"I LOVE THIS STORY. I can already tell this book will stay with me for a long time. I learned so much from the characters and I already want to read it again. <br/><br/>“How will I teach this mind what it is to have a soul? How will I teach this mind to understand pain? How will I teach it to want to take on another person’s suffering?” - Reb Saunders, The Chosen by Chaim Potok"

"Beautifully written. Unbelievably domestic story that somehow keeps you riveted just because of how it's told."