The Chosen Religion Quotes

David wants Reuven to understand that, while important, in his book, the rituals and ceremonies of Judaism must be put aside if health is an issue.

Though we don’t hear about it in the novel, Judaism has an entire holiday devoted to this idea. The "Ten Days of Repentance" begin on Rosh Hashanah and end the day before Yom Kippur. These ten days are a time of intense introspection. If someone has wronged or hurt someone else during the year but not apologized, that’s the time to do it. The wronged party also has an obligation to listen and try to understand the apologizer’s perspective. David Malter is teaching his son to act in this way all year long.

This is another example of Potok using David to present a very practical view of Judaism. By placing friendship under the auspice of religion, David also elevates friendship to an almost holy level, helping to prepare his son for what will truly be a life-changing experience.

Reuven is describing the silence of Reb Saunders’ followers as they wait for the man to appear. Reuven seems to be able to hear silence in this moment. Keep in mind, this is before he really knows about the mysterious silence between Reb Saunders and Danny. After he learns about it, he looses his ability to hear silence, and silence becomes completely alien to him.

The "tzaddik" is the position Danny is supposed to inherit from his father, and that it basically means super-brilliant spiritual leader. This passage shows how different the kind of Judaism Danny and his father practice is from the kind Reuven and his father practice – at least, in Reuven’s mind before he gets to know the Saunders family better. When he does, he sees that there are just as many similarities as differences.

Reb Saunders takes his Torah very seriously. Remember, he fled a country to keep his followers safe from persecution after losing his entire family and being left for dead himself. He believes that the Jewish study of the Torah is difficult and important.

This is the hardest question in the book. Why did the Holocaust – which killed some six million Jews, as well as Gypsies, gay people, and lots of others – happen? It’s an incredibly difficult thing to talk about. Here, the Reb is speaking directly to his God, on behalf of the dead, on behalf of the Jewish people. To all the critics who claim the Reb is a flat character, we send a hearty, pshaw.

It sounds at first as if David is trying to bypass God, but he isn’t. He’s accepting that we can’t know what God will do. David is expressing a view of Judaism where the all work is done on Earth for the Earth. David also expresses idealism in the idea of a dual homeland and an Israel-America bond. All of this is just as touchy today as it was back then.

Here, two-thirds of the way through the novel, the Reb expresses very isolating ideas. He’s got extreme love and extreme fear going on. We’re told constantly that he is suffering for his people. He’s afraid that if men who aren’t utterly pure try to rebuild the Holy Land, the wrath of God will rain down on humankind, and it will all be his fault.

Potok’s prose is precise here. The beauty and the pain of the Reb are based in an intimate conception of the soul, a personal vision of soul that he wants to give his son as a beautiful and painful gift to carry with him into the world.