Chaim Potok and the Problem of Assimilation for the American Jew
America has been a country of immigrants since Europeans first settled it over five hundred years ago. America has always faced the problem of assimilation, a challenge faced by every country with a considerable immigrant population. Because immigrants founded America, her culture is a combination of the cultures of other countries. Should these immigrants isolate themselves from the mainstream American culture, or should they sacrifice the culture of their homelands for the benefits American culture has to offer? Judaism, one of the world's oldest religions, has remained strong over its six thousand year history by remaining distinct - and isolated - from other cultures. Chaim Potok, in his books The Chosen, My Name is Asher Lev, In the Beginning, and The Book of Lights, focuses on this conflict between Orthodox Judaism and the secular world.Many of Chaim Potok's characters want the American Jewry to remain isolated from the mainstream American culture: The world kills us! The world flays our skin from our bodies and throws us into the flames! The world laughs at Torah! And if it does not kill us, it tempts us! It misleads us! It contaminates
In The Chosen, Potok contrasts Reuven Malther, who was raised to think for himself, with Danny Saunders, who was raised to accept his father's Hasidic ideologies (PinkMonkey.com). Both boys choose a path different from what their fathers would have preferred: Danny Saunders becomes a psychologist, and Reuven a rabbi. Danny's choice to become a psychologist, however, is much harder than Reuven's choice to become a rabbi because Danny's culture has taught him that the will of the community is more important than the will of the individual (PinkMonkey.com). David Malther, because he is a teacher and a scholar, is more open to secular ideas and is willing to let his son choose his career. Reb Saunders, on the other hand, has always tried to protect his community from what he sees as the impurities of the world (Young); the idea that his eldest son would choose to be a psychologist, a secular profession, rather than a rabbi is disgraceful to him. Reb Saunders is tormented by his son's brilliance: The Chosen "deals with the problems Jews have faced in trying to preserve their heritage - in particular, the problem of how to deal with the danger of assimilation" (Young)). The Jews have always been professionals occupying jobs in medicine, law, education, and other fields requiring a college degree. American Jews, however, face a dilemma: "Ideas from this secular world inevitably impinge upon an individual born in a church community or a synagogue community, especially when that individual embarks ona college experience" (Potok 2). American Jews must either take on nonprofessional jobs, assuming an identity completely different from that of European Jews, or expose themselves to secular America. Isolation is thoroughly impractical for the American Jew. Chaim Potok's works often focus on main characters whose talents draw them to the outside world:
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Approximate Word count = 1638
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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