As a doctor of philosophy, a rabbi, and a biblical commentator, Chaim Potok () had a lot to say. He would often wake at four or five in the morning, driven to wakefulness–because, he would say, of the sentences in his head. But foremost among his talents, Potok was a writer. Often his most profound thoughts and arguments would come not from his own mouth, but from the mouths of his fictional characters.
Over his lifetime, Potok authored eight novels, a number of short stories and novellas, and three children’s books. His most famous works included The Chosen, The Promise, My Name Is Asher Lev, Davita’s Harp, andI Am the Clay. He was also the author of a nonfiction book, Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews, and many works of Torah commentary.
Potok was born into an Orthodox family in New York, the eldest of four children. His parents were both immigrants from Poland whose life in Brooklyn was not so different from the Old World shtetl they had left behind.
After high school, Potok attended Yeshiva University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature, going against the wishes of his family, who expected Chaim to become a teacher in a yeshiva.
Pot
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok, born Herman Harold Potok, February 17, , in Brooklyn, NY, was the son of Polish immigrants who had strong ties to Hasidism and was reared in an Orthodox Jewish home. In an interview Potok said, "I prayed in a little shtiebel [prayer room], and my mother is a descendant of a great Hasidic dynasty and my father was a Hasid, so I come from that world."
After reading Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited when he was a teenager, Potok decided to become a writer. Riveted by the world of upper-class British Catholics that Waugh brings to life in the novel, Potok realized for the first time that fiction had the power "to create worlds out of words on paper." To learn how to write, Potok carefully studied the novels of such writers as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain. Over a period of five years, he spent most of his free time reading the novels of great writers.
At the same time, he became fascinated by less restrictive Jewish doctrines, particularly the Conservative movement. He attended Yeshiva University and graduated summa cum laude in English literature in before moving on to the Jewish Theo
Potok, Chaim
Best–selling author Chaim Potok (–) was the first Jewish American novelist to give a broad audience an inside look at the trials and tribulations of Orthodox Judaism. His exploration of the tensions between the traditional and the modern, the letter and the spirit, and the mystical and the rational within Judaism earned him a place of respect among critics and readers alike.
Early Life
Chaim Potok was born Herman Harold Potok on February 17, , in New York City's Borough of The Bronx. He was called by his Jewish name—Chaim Tzvi—which means "life" or "alive," and later adopted Chaim as his professional name as well. The oldest of four children, Potok's father Benjamin Max Potok and his mother Mollie (Friedman) both emigrated from Poland to the United States in the early s. Once settled in America, their family was caught, like so many others, in the economic difficulties of the Great Depression.
Potok and his siblings were raised in a strictly Orthodox home environment. Although not technically Hasidic, Potok started each day with prayers chanted in Hebrew, followed by eight hours at a yeshiva—an all–male Orthodox parochial school—and an evening spent doing
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Chaim Potok, born Herman Harold Potok, was the son of Polish immigrants and was reared in an Orthodox Jewish home. He was born in February of in New York City, where he attended religious schools. However, as a young man he became fascinated by less restrictive Jewish doctrines, particularly the Conservative side of Judaism. He attended Yeshiva University and graduated summa cum laude in English literature in before moving on to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained a Conservative rabbi. Potok then taught at several Jewish colleges, including the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, before moving on to become the managing editor of Conservative Judaism in
Potok spent a year in Israel completing his doctoral dissertation on philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in and the following year he became the editor of the Jewish Publication Society of America, which he remained for eight years before becoming a special-projects editor of the publication in Throughout his career in publishing, Dr. Potok wrote numerous popular articles and reviews.
Potok began his career as an au
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