The deeply touching novel by Potok tells us the story of the two boys, their friendship, family issues and their coming of age they go through together. Danny and Reuven are both boys from Jewish families, but while Danny is the son of an ultra-orthodoxical rabbi, Reuven is a descendent of the more modern family. The boys befriend each other on the baseball match between their schools and this starts a life-long friendship. This friendship endures the differences of worldviews in their families, the harsh upbringing of Danny, whose father speaks to him only when they are studying the Talmud together, and the desire of the boys to choose another fate than their parents want for them.

The story reveals not only the determination and inner worlds of both boys, it also shows us the peculiarities and customs of Jewish culture, something, lots of us have never thought about before. The two careers, chosen for the boys, are quite common for Jewish families - a rabbi and a professor - but the real difficulties start to show when it happened that the boys want to switch their careers.

The long path of family feud, reconciliation and fighting for the right to be whoever they want to, makes our eyes wet several times. Both Danny and Reuven are struggling to understand their parents and their way to raise their children, the reasons of their actions. We wait impatiently when the issues of these boys - or later young adults - will be resolved, and in the end we (and the characters) finally get their well-deserved happy ending.

The Chosen is a family story that shows us the different angles of bonds between fathers and sons, the different ways of upbringing that help both Danny and Reuven become decent people. Another important theme is the contrast of the modernity and traditions, where both are brilliantly portrayed as completely valid ways to live. Reuven, the boy from the modern family, with his talent to learn science and math, still feels that he wants to be reunited with his Jewish roots, while Danny, the son of rabbi, wants to study human psychology. It is heartwarming and wonderful to see both of them successful and finally fully accepted by their parents.

Author: Loretta Bowman