"He is a remarkable man," my father murmured. "They are remarkable people. There is so much about them that is distasteful to me. But they are remarkable people.""I wish they weren't so afraid of new ideas.""You want a great deal, Reuven. The Messiah has not yet come. Will new ideas enable them to go on singing and dancing?""We can't ignore the truth, abba.""No," he said. "We cannot ignore the truth. At the same time, we cannot quite sing and dance as they do." He was silent a moment. "That is the dilemma of our time, Reuven. I do not know what the answer is."
Chaim Potok, The Promise (Anchor Books, 1969; 1997), 312.
6 comments:
I remember loving his books - a revelation of thought processes.
I love Potok (especially Asher Lev).
When my mother was a school teacher, she once got the kids to write reflections on The Chosen. She sent a bundle of these reflections to Potok, and in response he wrote the children a very nice letter to thank them. What a guy!
I adore Potok. I find his style sometimes a bit ... I can't find the word. Restrained, succinct, almost pedestrian ... A bit like Biblical narrative! Most of all I love the subject matter: the tensions between modernity, traditional faith, and the almost apocalyptic consequences of the Holocaust.
Asher Lev is still waiting to be read. Perhaps this summer ...
Oh, you've got a treat waiting for you! I've read all his books (and love them all), but My Name Is Asher Lev is his real triumph. I must have read it four or five times over the years, and I love it every time.
Great to see some Potok, Phil.I love The Chosen and also My Name is Asher Lev. It's been about 9 years since I've read them, but this brought back memories. Thanks!
These comments have inspired me to read Asher Lev while in Rome this summer (SBL).
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