The Chosen (Ch 5-12) due Sun, Sept 27 by 8pm
Quote 2 particular lines or passages from within Chap 5-12: one that feels imp’t to the text and one that feels imp’t to you, and explain why they feel imp’t. End your post w/ a question. (Note page #s, make your post 2 paragraphs long, and skip a line between paragraphs.)
Also, reply to at least one student's post.
"I also know that he is sometimes with you in the library and sometimes with your father. I want you to tell me what he reads. I could ask my son, but it is difficult for me to speak to him. I know you do not understand that. But it is true. One day perhaps I will tell you the reason." This line stuck out to me as being important to the text because I think that at this point Reuven has developed a steady and stable friendship with Danny Saunders, and he seems to be developing some sort of relationship with Danny's father, and with Reb Saunders being so disapproving of outsiders, this is a big step in the book because this is Reb reaching out to Reuven. The reason that this is important is Reuven is able to act as an intermediary between Danny and Reb Saunders. It just struck me how Reb is able to notice and, although he is unhappy with the friendship, he seems able to accept the friendship between the two of them.*
ReplyDelete"Now, Reuven, listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. Reb Saunders' son is a terribly torn and lonely boy. There is literally no one in the world he can talk to. He needs a friend. The accident with the baseball has bound him to you, and he has already sensed in you someone he can talk to without fear." This is a line that stuck out to me and felt somewhat important to me because it shows that sometimes you aren't able to see what someone's life is really like, but then something trivial such as in the case of the book, a baseball accident, is able to bring people together and help them form a friendship. I just though that it was a very good line, and I thought it would be important to include it here.
Do you think that Reb Saunders will reach out to his son eventually?
I think it is such an interesting topic that Danny and his father can't talk. I don't personally understand it, but it looks to be very difficult for Danny. Reb Saunders openly admits to Reuven that it is hard to talk to him, and that he just can't. I think at some point Reb Saunders my reach out to Danny, but for a while I think he will just continue to use Reuven to talk to Danny. It will be interesting to find out what happens if they do eventually talk, but I think him talking to Danny through Reuven is a start.
DeleteHi Marshall,
DeleteFirst off, I liked what you said in your second paragraph a lot. As for your question, Danny and his father have a very peculiar relationship. In most cases where a child barely ever interacts with their father, it is because of a specific incident that pushed them apart, but with Danny and his father, that doesn’t appear to be the case. As far as I could tell, there was no specific event that caused their relationship to be the way that it is, they simply just don’t know how to communicate with each other. At different points throughout the story, both Danny and his father tell Reuven that they don’t know how to communicate with the other. In both of these instances, it appears that they both wish their relationship was different so, to answer your question, I think that eventually yes, one of them will reach out to the other, although I’m not sure that it will be Reb Saunders that does the reaching out.
I think that Reb will eventually reach out and talk to Danny because that is a really hard way to live your life. It feels like their religion is what separates them and that is why Reb doesn't talk to Danny, but at the same time, that is pretty much the only thing that binds them together. Like Isaiah said, it seems that they both want their relationship to be different from what it is, but neither of them are sure how to do it and break the years of silence between them.
Delete“Nu,” Reb Saunders said, “later we will talk more. I want to know my son’s friend. Especially the son of David Malter.” (126) I think this line feels important to the text because it shows there is something special about David Malter, aside from the fact that he does not follow Reb Saunders. Later in the reading, we find out that David Malter writes scientific criticisms, and Reb Saunders doesn’t like that. He also does not want Reuven to spoil Danny’s mind with his fathers or his own thoughts. Reb Saunders comes to approve of Reuven, and even uses him as a buffer between him and Danny. Reb Saunders obviously disapproves of the writings and beliefs of Reuven’s father, so I think it will definitely show up in the text more about David Malter.
ReplyDelete“Once I looked up and saw his father staring at me, his eyes black beneath the thick brows. I looked away, feeling as though my skin had been peeled away and my insides photographed.” (128) This line feels important to me because I know exactly how it feels, to be awkwardly sitting or standing there, and feeling like everyone has eyes on you. I really liked the way he put the sentence, especially the part about being able to see through someone’s skin. In reality, nobody can do that, and they don’t know what you are thinking. However, when you have a lot on your mind and people are looking at you, it seems as if they know your every move and what your thoughts are.
The question is unrelated to my posts.
How do you think Danny will continue to feel about his brother becoming Rabbi, and do you think it is selfish of him?
I agree with your points of these two texts, and I really like your analysis of paragraph two. I usually have the same feeling as you when people stare at me. The idea of Danny’s brother could be Rabbi, comes too sudden and I think that Danny will eventually become more calmly and rationally on this responsibility that he needs to take, but I don’t really think that he would change his life goal. The attitude that Danny shows is not enough for “selfish” in my opinion. I can see his passion for his target for the future, and it’s normal that he wants someone or something to get rid of his burden.
DeleteI think Danny will continue to hope that his younger brother will become rabbi, instead of him. I am not certain, however, that he will ever work up the courage to tell his father about it. As for it being selfish, I think that it is a somewhat selfish thought, yet I also believe that he is perfectly justified in thinking it. After all, he has little interest in becoming a rabbi, and his brother taking over instead of him is practically the only way he could avoid inheriting his father’s position.
Delete
ReplyDelete“It’s not the world that is commanded to study Torah, but the people of Israel!”(133). It’s a quote from Reb Saunders’ impassioned talk, and I think this line is important to the text. This sentence emphasizes the Reb Saunders beliefs of the Jewish tradition, and it also somewhat isolated his identity to the normal world. Also, it’s important that it mentions the title of the book in some way. Reuven and Danny are both the people who have been “chosen”, so they need to take the responsibilities for their religion and be given privilege as well as obligation. However, Reuven and Danny both have their own desires for the future, so they’ll somewhat be struggling to reconcile their situations.
“‘Reuven, as you grow older you will discover that the most important things that will happen to you will often come as a result of silly things, as you call them — ‘ordinary things’ is a better expression. That is the way the world is.’”(110). This one comes from David Malter, who is Reuven’s father. It really spokes to me and I agree with that. People never know that what will happen next, and every little thing can trigger or change to a big surprise. Everything happens for a reason, the similar people will finally meet each other.
Do you think that Danny is able to achieve his target?
I think that one of the more important events that occurred during this portion of the book was Reb Saunders’ acceptance of Reuven. By this I simply mean that Reb Saunders is aware of and okay with Danny’s friendship with Reuven. I think that the line that best demonstrates this to be the case is the following, in which Reuven first participates in one of their “battles”. More specifically it is his first of their one-on-one battles, as he had participated in their public battle the week prior. “So when Reb Saunders cited and explained a passage that seemed to contradict a point that had just been made by Danny, I suddenly found myself on the field of combat, offering an interpretation of the passage in support of Danny.” (164).
ReplyDeleteTo me personally, the most impactful of the events in this section of the reading is undeniably the discovery of the concentration camps after the end of World War II. while I could never truly fathom the pain that one would feel upon learning that six million of one’s own people have been brutally genocided, I am of Jewish heritage myself, and it had a huge impact on me when I first learned about it. I can only imagine the pain that someone such as Reuven, who actively practices Judaism, would have felt upon learning about it for the first time, especially with Hitler’s regime still being a fresh wound in the world at the time. ”’Six million of our people have been slaughtered,’ he went on quietly. ‘It is inconceivable.’” (191).
Will the book have a happy or sad ending?
I think that it will be a bittersweet ending. I think that it will be partly a good ending because Reuven will have become friends with Danny and their friendship can flourish for years to come after, but at the same time I think that it could be a somewhat bad ending because I think there’s a chance that Danny and his father may not come together and be a true father and son.
Delete“‘He always has to approve of my friends,’ Danny said” (111). This is important to the text because it shows how important it is that Danny and Reuven are friends. Danny’s father meets with all of his friends and decides whether or not they should remain friends. This leads me to believe that Danny has brought friends to see his father that his father didn’t like. He probably forbade Danny from seeing them. This shows how significant it is that Danny and Reuven are still friends. Reb Saunders believes that they should be friends, even though Reuven isn’t from his community. He sees something in their friendship worth keeping despite the differences in opinion and belief. I think this shows that the friendship Danny and Reuven have is very special.
ReplyDelete“‘It all started with a silly baseball game,’ I said. ‘I can’t believe it’” (107). This is important to me because I believe that some of the best things in life come from small moments. I have so many memories with friends and family that didn’t come from large events. Also, I don’t think I would be friends with some people today if it wasn’t for small coincidences. It's the same thing with Danny and Reuven. They have learned so much from each other and the world through their friendship. If Danny hadn’t hit the ball that Reuven pitched their lives would be very different. They might have never even met. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without the friends I have today. I think life is filled with coincidences that often lead to lasting friendships and memories, just like a silly baseball game.
Do you think Reuven and Danny will stay friends forever or will they go separate ways?
Hi Madelyn, I really hope that as time progresses, so does their bond. I think both of them will learn to help each other out in small ways. I hope that they do stay friends forever although they could very well go off on their separate ways. I also love how you wrote that some of the best moments in life come from small coincidences. I too would not be friends with as many people if it weren't for those small moments. I think those little things in life really shape who we are as people and I liked you connected that to Danny and Reuven's relationship.
DeleteI believe that most friendships that people make in high school do not last for the rest of your life and that eventually, most people will drift apart with time. But I think that because Reuven is really Danny’s only friend, they have a higher chance of staying friends in the future. Danny does not have many other people that he can talk to in a friendship kind of way, so it would make sense that Danny would want to keep being friends with Reuven. I do hope that Danny and Reuven do stay friends but I'm not sure that that is possible also considering the time that this book is set in.
Delete“I walked slowly through the apartment [that] I had lived in all my life, but I never really saw it until I went through it that Friday afternoon.” (94). This line stuck out to me because Reuven had just gotten home for the hospital after a few days. He hasn’t been home in awhile so it’s a little foreign for him to be back. I think this line is important to me because whenever I get home from vacation, or anywhere after a long time, I too notice smaller details in my house that I hadn’t before. I think Reuven is still getting used to being home so he notices things in his home that he had never really paid attention to before.
ReplyDelete“‘The accident with the baseball has bound him to you, and he has already sensed in you someone he can talk to without fear”’ (106). I think this line is important to the text because Reuven’s dad is encouraging the friendship between him and Danny to continue. I also think this is sweet because Mr. Malter is looking out for Danny and wants Reuven to be his escape from Danny’s father in a way. Since Danny is mostly alone due to his father not really allowing him to have friends, I think that Reuven and him will form a really tight bond.
As time progresses, do you think Danny and his father will be able to communicate with each other more clearly?
Hi Liv! I agree with what you said in both of your paragraphs. I also get that feeling of noticing the littles things in my house when I get home from long trips/vacation. I think this might happen to everyone and not just with places. I think that if you go a long time without seeing a person, this also happens. I too think that Mr. Malter is encouraging the friendship between the two boys because Danny doesn’t really have anyone else. In response to your question, I highly doubt that Danny and his father will start to talk more. The silence between the two has gone on for so long, I don’t think either of them knows how to fix it at this point. Both Danny and his father just acknowledge this as part of everyday life. It is really sad to see a bond, or lack thereof in this case, like this between a father and his son.
DeleteI don’t think Danny and his father will get any better at talking to each other. It seems like they don’t have a good enough foundation for a closer relationship. I do think they will use Reuven to talk to each other. Danny’s father has already used Reuven to talk with Danny. I think Reuven is like a bridge for their relationship. They are both comfortable talking to him so I think they will talk to each other through him. I like what you said about coming home after a vacation and noticing little things about your house. I also notice little details that I feel like I’ve never seen before. I think it’s a feeling that almost everyone can relate to.
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ReplyDelete“On the first day of July I packed a bag and took a cab to Reb Saunders’ house. I moved into Danny’s room,” (pg 192). I think that this is important to the text because it shows just how good of friends Danny and Reuven are. When Reuven's dad has a heart attack and has to stay at the hospital for quite some time, Reb offers for Reuven to come and stay with his family until Reuven’s dad gets better. I think this also illustrates that Danny’s father does accept Reuven and approves of him being Danny’s friend. Something tells me that Reb Saunders wouldn’t let just anybody come stay at his house, especially if it wasn’t one of his followers, but he not only lets Reuven stay there, he’s the one who invited him. People have to have a pretty strong bond in my opinion to go live at a friend’s house for an extended period of time, and you can see that Danny and Reuven have that bond.
ReplyDelete“His elbows were on the table, and he held his head in the palms of his hands, the fingers covering his ears completely, his eyes staring down at the book,” (pg 151). This is when Reuven goes to the library to read with Danny and is observing how Danny reads. This particular line stuck out to me because this is how I read when I’m immersed in a book. I don’t always read like this, but when a book really captivates me, or if I’m very focused on a book, which is what Danny was, this is how I read. There is no other reason that I picked this line than that it just made me feel like I had a little connection with a character in the book.
Reuven’s friends know about his friendship with Danny, but it isn’t told that Danny’s friends know. Do you think Danny will tell them and what do you think their reaction will be?
I think that Danny's friends might already know about their friendship. When Reuven when to Danny's synagogue for the first time he saw the boy that had run into him at the baseball game which I think was one of Danny's friends. I expect that all of Danny's other friends saw him there with Danny too. I assume that they didn't like that the two were friends very much but they had to respect it because of Danny's father being the Rabbi. In your second paragraph you said that you read that way when you really like a book. I also do that, I feel like it helps me block out the world and feel more like I'm part of the book.
DeleteIn this section of the book we saw Reuven and Danny start to become quite good friends. While Reuven and Danny are both Jewish, they are of two different branches of Judaism. To take it a step further, both of their fathers are respected and known in the area, and due to their being of different branches of Judaism, they each have quite different beliefs. Because of this, there was a rather serious concern that Reb Saunders, Danny’s father, would disapprove of Reuven as a friend for Danny. After Danny brought Reuven to a service led by his father so that they could meet, Reb Saunders told Reuven, “I am happy my Daniel has chosen you for a friend”(141). If he had disapproved of Reuven, it would be difficult for them to remain friends, so this moment is a very important moment for Danny and Reuven’s friendship, and for the progression of the story.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of chapter eleven, we learned that World War II ended, and shortly after that, information on the concentration camps was released. Like every other Jew at that time, “[Reuven] couldn’t begin to imagine six million of [his] people murdered”(190). As a Jew, this is one of the most important parts of this story for me. Even now it is incredibly hard to comprehend how something as horrific as that actually happened. When I first learned of the Holocaust, it had been more than half a century since it had occurred and I was still extremely upset by it. For Reuven, it was just days ago, so I will never even come close to understanding how he, and every other Jew then, must have felt.
Do you think that Danny and his father will eventually learn to communicate with each other?
I do not think that they will necessarily "learn" to communicate. I believe there is a religious reason for Reb Saunders not talking with his own son. It does not seem to be a family issue because Reb seems to be proud of Danny whenever he catches his purposeful mistakes. I am waiting to see if Reb will change his mind about this or stay resolute throughout the rest of the novel.
Deleteit seems that Danny and his Father's relationship gets worse the older that Danny gets. he does not really like to talk to his father because he knows his father will not like any of his choices (the books he reads). the only way for their relationship and their communication to get better of for Reb to be kinder to Danny and let him be able to have a little freedom without fearing the worst. I wonder if, as Danny get older, Reb will start to respect his choices more or just make him become what he wants, the next rabbi.
Delete-Abby Dixon
“God is everywhere, he told them, and if it seems at times that He is hidden from us, it is only because we have not yet learned to seek Him correctly. Evil is like a hard shell. Within this shell is the spark of God, is goodness. How do we penetrate the shell? By sincere and honest prayer, by being happy, and by loving all people. The Ba’al Shem Tov… believed that no man is so sinful that he cannot be purified by love and understanding (107).”
ReplyDeleteI found this passage was important to me because of the way David Malter describes God and evil. Everything going on in the country and in the world these days, from Trump to the pandemic to the forest fires and global warming, seems like it could be “evil.” But, in spite of all of this, I think there is still a spark of goodness, whether or not you consider it God, within all of this. Just like Reuven’s father says, I think there is always goodness. It is important to search for happiness and to try to love everyone. I think it is important to see the good in everyone. In spite of a great deal of hostility in the world and even in Thetford, we should not let that define us. We should try to find what is good in everything. I think that is what Reuven’s father meant in this quote.
“And I soon realized something else: Reb Saunders was far happier when he lost to Danny than when he won. His face glowed with fierce pride and his head nodded wildly – the nod beginning form the waist and including the entire upper portion of his body, with the beard moving back and forth against his chest – each time he was forced to acquiesce to Danny’s rendition of a passage or to Danny’s incisive counter-questioning (163-164).”
I think this quote is important to the text. The first time Danny argues with his father over a point in the Talmud, Reuven is startled. Now, we realize that it is actually a game that Reb Saunders plays with Danny to keep him on his toes and make sure that Danny is studying and learning every little segment of the Talmud so that he will be ready to lead his people. By now, we realize that Danny’s father does not intend to speak to him. There must be a religious reason for this. I think it is all tied in together. Reb Saunders believes he is training Danny to be the next rabbi so it is necessary, in his mind, to be silent to Danny and to make him argue the fine points of the Talmud. I think this is all part of Danny’s religious training.
I wonder what the reason for Reb Saunders’ lack of conversation with Danny is?
"my school work seemed endless, and student politics took up every moment of my spare time"(174). This line is from when Danny and Reuven could never find time to be together because of how busy they were. This line is important to me because between things like school, work, extra curricular, and everything else it can seem like you have no time left. sometimes it can be stressful when it all piles up. Of course for me it was never as bad as it was for Danny and Reuven but it still feel like a lot. Just reading about all the things in Danny and Reuven's lives during this time felt overwhelming. I always get through it and everything gets done but Danny and Reuven seemed to have handled it better than I would have.
ReplyDeleteWhen Reuven and Danny are talking about Danny's brother he says that his brother will make a good tzaddik. Reuven is confused so Danny explains that if he doesn't take the place then his little brother will. He says "I was really concerned about his health because all along I've wanted him to be able to take my father's place"(190). This line is important to the text for a couple of reasons. It shows how disconnected Danny's family is from each other especially Danny from his little brother. It's also important because it gives Danny a loop hole. Danny had always thought that if he didn't take his father's place then it would ruin the whole six generation tradition so even though he didn't want to do it he was still going to take his father's place. Then he realized that instead his brother could do it instead of him but only if he was healthy enough and alive. It is such a big thing for Danny to not become the next rabbi and instead be a psychologist.
Do you think that Danny's brother will really be able to take his father's place instead of Danny?
One line that stood out to me in this section of the book was when Reuven’s father was talking to Reuven after he had gotten back from the hospital, “‘Reuven, as you grow older you will discover that the most important things that will happen to you will often come as a result of silly things, as you call them.’”(110). I think this quote stood out to me because there are decisions that I have made that I at first thought were small and insignificant, but then turned out to have a greater effect on me then I initially thought.
ReplyDeleteOne line that I felt was important to the text was when Reuven was riding home on the trolley after he had found out that president Rosevelt had died, “I found myself crying too, and felt a gnawing emptiness … I was feeling as though it had been my father who had died.” (187). I think that this line was important to the story because it shows how empathetic Reuven is. I think that because Reuven is able to understand and feel empathy, that was one of the reasons why he was able to become friends with Danny and also Billy, because he can put himself into the situations that they are in and try to imagine what that would be like and compare it to something that he has experienced. One question that I have for this section of the book is, how do you think that Reuven’s relationships with other characters in the book will be affected by Reuven’s ability to feel empathy?
“I noticed for the first time that Homer’s eyes seemed glazed, almost without pupils, as if the artist had been trying to show that he had been blind. I had never noticed that before, and it frightened me a little to see it now,” (150). I feel that this quote was very important to the text because it really tells you how Reuven’s perspective on life has changed and how he even without noticing I think has started to value sight far more because of almost losing vision in his eye and being around Billy. He also fears losing his sight so much more now, he doesn’t want to be like Billy and blindness scares him so much. Noticing how the artist of Homer glazed his eyes over a bit I think makes him think that that could have been what his eye could have ended up as.
ReplyDelete“”He blinked his eyes again, and when he spoke his voice was soft, the bitterness gone. “I am not satisfied with it, either, Reuven. We cannot wait for God. if there is an answer, we must make it ourselves,”’ (191). The quote was important to me because it really shows that even though both Reuven’s Dad and Reb Saunders are both Jews they think very differently and come from different sides of the religion. Reb believes everything they are given and everything that is learned and done is all God. That God will give an answer to everything and you must wait for him. Reuven’s dad’s views are more logical in my mind. He still believes in God but realizes that God will not give the answer most of the time and you need to find the answer yourself. It's interesting to see their different views and ideals of the dads.
Will the conflict with Reb Saunders beliefs and how he teaches with Reuven get worse?
-Abby Dixon
Nolan Pepe
ReplyDelete“‘I know that my Daniel spends many hours almost every day in the public library,’” (165). This is important to the book because it shows that maybe Reb Saunders may not be as strict or not caring about Danny as Reuven may have thought. It shows that he knows about it and hasn’t done anything to punish him or make sure that he doesn’t do it anymore. This also shows that Reb trusts Reuven and thinks that Danny and Reuven are good for each other as friends, just like what Reuven’s dad thought and explained to Reuven in chapter 6 (I think).
“‘I’m afraid not. The surgery was not successful,’” (173). This line was important to me because I was interested to see where Billy’s character went. I knew that something bad was going to happen to either Mr. Savo or Billy because that is usually what happens to those kinds of supporting characters, but it was still sad to hear that Billy’s operation didn’t work to fix his blindness. It was good to hear Reuven saying that he wanted to visit him, but unfortunately he was transferred to Albany. This makes me curious about Billy’s character in the future to see if maybe Reuven and Billy’s paths will cross at some point in the future of the book. I don’t think it will but it would be cool to see Reuven finally get his chance to say that he is sorry about Billy’s failed surgery to him in person.
Do you think that Reuven will see Billy again at some point in the remainder of the book?