Chaim PotokChaim, which means life, is the Hebrew name of Herman Harold Potok, a man who spent much of his time writing life-affirming stories, essays, and novels about Jewish life in America. Potok was born during the Great Depression. He saw many working class Jews lose their jobs and struggle through economic tensions with their neighbors. Unfortunately, these tensions sometimes evolved into hatred and violence.
Potok struggled with his interest in art and writing as a young man. Told by his Hasidic family and friends that such pursuits were morally wrong, he eventually chose to turn away from his roots and embrace the less rigid lifestyle of a Conservative Jew. It is not surprising, then, that Potok's main theme was often the inherent conflicts that exist between Orthodox Jewry and American values. |
The ChosenEssential Questions
Pixar's "Day and Night" Background Information Reading Guide and .doc Vocabulary Discussion Guide Maya Angelou on How a Library Saved Her Life Characterization Activity Bluefarb on The Chosen Chapters 8-9 Instagram Activity Ch. 1-12 Group Discussion Questions James Baldwin - "Sonny's Blues" Group Discussion Questions Abramson on Fathers and Sons A Psychoanalytic Reading of The Chosen Final Discussion "Walking Away" by C. Day Lewis Abramson on Potok's Depiction of Jewish and Non-Jewish Worlds Holocaust Essay Contest This I Believe Essay Final Review Pinwheel Final Exam Review |