Chaim Potok

Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 - July 23, 2002) was an American author and rabbi.

Potok is most famous for his 1967 novel The Chosen which was a semi-autobiographical story about two boys. Reuven Malter, a Modern Orthodox Jew, becomes friends with Danny Saunders, an exceptionally brilliant young son of a Hasidic rabbi. The father, Reb Saunders, expects his son to succeed him as a rabbi, yet Danny wants to study psychology, a secular field of study.

Herman Harold Potok was born in the New York Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Poland. Following tradition, his parents also gave him a Hebraic name, Chaim Tvzi; "Chaim" is the Hebrew word for "life". His Orthodox education taught him Talmud as well as secular studies.

 

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After receiving an M.A. in Hebrew literature, and his later rabbinic ordination, Potok joined the U.S. Army as a chaplain, where he spent over a year in the Korean war.

Potok edited Conservative Judaism and also served as editor of the Jewish Publication Society. In 1965, Potok was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

In Merion, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 2002, Chaim Potok died of cancer.

Bibliography

• The Chosen (1967)
• The Promise (1969)
• My Name is Asher Lev (1972)
• The Book of Lights
• The Gift of Asher Lev (1990)
• Davita's Harp
• I Am the Clay (1992)
• The Tree of Here (1993)
• The Sky of Now (1994)
• The Gates of November (1996)
• Zebra and Other Stories (1998)