Beautiful. Couldn't put it down.

A thought-provoking insight into a culture that was different. I have to admit I have always grieved for the loss of life in WWII. But I have never tried to imagine how it would feel to be part of the group who was targeted. Maybe that is what's missing in our culture today. Because so many are fighting to belong to a minority, perhaps no one really tries to empathize with those who truly suffer. ( )

Both my son and daughter were given this book upon their bar and bat mitzvahs. I can see why. In the beginning, the book's main protagonists are two 15-year-old boys, and you witness them finish high school and college. The language is also simple and straight forward; one might even guess this falls in the Young Adult Fiction category, although in the late 1960s, when this book was written, I am not sure that category existed. Most important, the book deals with themes of Judaism, family, friendship, faith, character, pain, loss, and spirituality, that are important. And our religious institution is in Brooklyn, where Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter both live just blocks from one another, at the tail end of World II. To me, this book is principally about how to be a Jew in the modern world. The novel deals with the improbable friendship between Danny, a genius Hasidic Jew who is the son of the local Rebbe and destined to take over the community, and Reuven, an Orthodox but more secular Jew, also whip-smart, whose father is also a Rabbi. The two children forge a strong friendship, despite their differences. I found the book really fascinating. You learn a bit about the origins of Hasidism and Potok really evokes a community, its dusty Yeshiva, the old men gathering on the sidewalk or taking part in a kiddush, and little kids playing on the street, a rabbinical college, that seem to be little different today then they were 75 years ago. Reuven and Danny's fathers respect one another but they represent two different paths for Jewish survival in the modern world. Danny's final words to Reuven's dad, that he will raise his child as he himself was raised, "If I can't find another way" demonstrates the flexibility Jews and other faith communities require in confronting modernity. ( )

This was recommended by a friend - she does like intense books. What I liked about it was the peek into the world of orthodox Jews in the 1940s through the story of friendship between two boys and the story of their relationships with their fathers. It was also a history lesson about the birth of Israel. It's heavy and emotional, perhaps a little over the top for me. It's also personally hard to appreciate a story where the women are all but invisible. ( )

A story of baseball and hate evolves into a classic of love and friendship between two young Jewish men in Brooklyn.
The contrasts between Orthodox and Hasidic Judaism are finely drawn, with the horror of The Holocaust ultimately drawing them close. ( )