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Chaim Potok

Chaim Potok, born Herman Harold Potok, February 17, 1929, 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 Yeshiv

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n October 29, Seattle Pacific University welcomed to campus renowned author and scholar Chaim Potok. A professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, Potok has written numerous novels: books which often examine coming-of-age dilemmas in settings where culture, art and faith collide.

Born in Brooklyn in 1929 to Polish immigrants, Potok was raised an Orthodox Jew with the expectation that he would become a Talmudic scholar. However, at age 16, following a powerful encounter with literature, he decided on a writing career. He wanted to create stories that "provide a map not only of the physical elements of life, but of the spiritual ones as well."

Potok's best-known novels include The Chosen, nominated for a National Book Award and recipient of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award; The Promise, awarded the Athenaeum Prize; My Name is Asher Lev; and The Gift of Asher Lev, which won the National Jewish Award. Other books include In the Beginning, The Book of Lights and Davita's Harp. Potok has also written children's literature, as well as works

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Chaim Potok

American author and rabbi (1929–2002)

Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author, novelist, playwright, editor and rabbi. Of the more than a dozen novels he authored, his first book The Chosen (1967) was listed on The New York Times’ bestseller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies,^[1]^[2] and was adapted into a well-received 1981 feature film by the same title.

Biography

Herman Harold Potok was born in the Bronx, New York City, to Benjamin Max Potok (died 1958) and Mollie (née Friedman; died 1985), Jewish immigrants from Poland.^[3] He was the oldest of four children, all of whom either became or married rabbis. His Hebrew name was Chaim Tzvi (חיים צבי). He received an Orthodox Jewish education. After reading Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited (1945) as a teenager, he decided to become a writer (he often said that Brideshead Revisited is what inspired his work and literature). He started writing fiction at the age of 16. At age 17 he made his first submiss