A biography of chaim potok an american jewish rabbi

Plot[ edit ] This is the story of Asher Lev, a boy born with a prodigious artistic ability into a Hasidic Jewish family, set in the s in the time of Joseph Stalin and the persecution of Jews and religious people in the Soviet Union. It brings him into particularly strong conflict with his father, a man who has devoted his life to serving their leader, the Rebbe, by traveling around the world bringing the teachings and practice of their sect to other Jews, and who is by nature incapable of understanding or appreciating art.

He was the oldest of four children, all of whom either became or married rabbis. He received an Orthodox Jewish education. He started writing fiction at the age of At age 17 he made his first submission to the magazine The Atlantic Monthly.

Inat the age of twenty, his stories were published in the literary magazine of Yeshiva Universitywhich he also helped edit. Potok met Adena Sara Mosevitzsky, a psychiatric social workerat Camp Ramah in Ojai, Californiawhere he served as camp director — They were married on June 8,and had three children.

Army as a chaplain. He served in South Korea from to He described his time in South Korea as a transformative experience. Upon his return, he joined the faculty of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and became the director of a Conservative Jewish summer camp affiliated with the Conservative movement, Camp Ramah.

A year later he began his graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and was appointed scholar-in-residence at Temple Har Zion in Philadelphia. Also inhe began a year in Israelwhere he wrote his doctoral dissertation on Solomon Maimon and began to write a novel.

In Potok moved to Brooklyn.

My Name Is Asher Lev - Wikipedia

The following year, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society in Philadelphia and later, chairman of the publication committee.

InPotok relocated to Jerusalem with his family. He returned to Philadelphia in After the publication of Old Men at Midnight, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died at his home in Merion, Pennsylvania on July 23,aged Potok wrote a sequel to The Chosen in entitled The Promisewhich details the issues of the value and identity between Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.

This book won the Athenaeum Literary Award the same year of its publication. Inhe published My Name is Asher Levthe story of a boy struggling with his relationship with his parents, religion and his love of art. Inhe published In the Beginning. During this time, Potok began translating the Hebrew Bible into English.

In he published his non-fiction work, Wanderings: Potok described his novel The Book of Lights as an account of his experiences in Asia during the war. Potok had a cameo role as a professor. It also became a short-lived Off-Broadway musical and was adapted subsequently as a stage play by Aaron Posner in collaboration with Potok, which premiered at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia in In Potok completed another novel, I am the Clay, about the courageous struggle of a war-ravaged family.

He spent many hours in the public library reading secular novels. Agnon as his chief literary influences. Many of his novels are set in the urban environments in New York in which he himself grew up. In the book, Asher Lev wants to be a painter which causes much conflict with his father who wants him to do something else, much as Chaim Potok did during his childhood.

Asher decides to continue as a painter and it disturbs his family, but Potok eventually decided to be an author and painted in his free time.

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Potok has said he relates to Asher Lev more than any of his other characters. One of his admirers was Elie Wieselwho wrote to Potok saying he had read all his books "with fervor and friendship".Chaim Potok (February 17, - July 23, ) was an American Jewish author and rabbi.

Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen (), which was listed on The New York Times' best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,, copies. Chaim Potok (February 17, – July 23, ) was an American Jewish author and rabbi.

Chaim Potok Biography

Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen (), which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,, regardbouddhiste.com: July 23, (aged 73), Merion, Pennsylvania, U.S.

A Jewish rabbi, critically acclaimed writer and a novelist, Chaim Potok gained international acclaim with his debut novel, ‘The Chosen’.

His novels were mostly built around the concept of Jewish identity, their struggle to cope with urban life and clash between secular and religious regardbouddhiste.com Of Birth: The Bronx.

Chaim Potok (February 17, – July 23, ) was an American Jewish writer and rabbi. Chaim_Potok’s Biography Herman Harold Potok was born in the Bronx, the son of Benjamin Max (born ) and Mollie (Friedman) Potok (born ), both Jewish immigrants from Poland. Chaim Potok Biography Bookmark this page Manage My Reading List In The Chosen, Chaim Potok (pronounced Hi em Poe talk) describes the condition of American Jews living in two cultures, one secular and one religious.

Jul 23,  · Chaim Potok (February 17, – July 23, ) was an American Jewish author and rabbi. Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen (), which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,, copies.