My Name Is Asher Lev is a novel by Chaim Potok, an American author and rabbi. The book's protagonist is Asher Lev, a Hasidic Jewish boy in New York City. Asher is a loner with artistic inclinations. His art, however, causes conflicts with his family and other members of his community. The book follows Asher's maturity as both an artist and a Jew.[1]
Potok asserted that the conflict between tradition and individualism is constant and that the tension between religion and art is lifelong. Potok was, as well as an author, a painter, and his personal struggle is apparent in his painting titled "Brooklyn Crucifixion." And yet despite this seemingly agonizing struggle, Potok remained active as an artist/writer and engaged in the religion of his upbringing until his death in 2002.[2]
Asher Lev is a boy with a prodigious artistic ability born into a Hasidic Jewish family. During his childhood in the 1950s, in the time of Joseph Stalin and the persecution of Jews and religious people in the Soviet Union, Asher's artistic inclination brings him into conflict with the members of his Jewish community, which values things primarily as they relate to faith and considers art unrelated to religious expression to be at best a waste of time and possibly a sacrilege. It brings him into particularly strong conflict with his father, Aryeh, a man who has devoted his life to serving their leader, the Rebbe, by traveling around the world bringing the teachings and practice of their sect to other Jews. Aryeh is by nature incapable of understanding or appreciating art and considers Asher's early drawings to be "foolishness."
In the middle is Asher's mother, Rivkeh, who in Asher's early childhood was severely traumatized by the death of her brother, who was killed while traveling for the Rebbe. Rivkeh is only able to emerge from her depression when she decides to continue her brother's work and obtains the Rebbe's permission to return to college to study Russian affairs. Throughout the novel she suffers anxiety for her husband's safety during his almost constant traveling, and is frequently seen waiting at the large window of their apartment for her husband or son to return home.
The Rebbe asks Asher's father to relocate to Vienna, which would make it easier to perform his work establishing yeshivas throughout Europe. Asher becomes very upset about this and refuses to move to Vienna, in spite of requests from his parents and teachers alike. Rivkeh ultimately decides to stay in Brooklyn with Asher while Aryeh moves to Vienna alone.
While Asher's father is away, Asher explores his artistic nature and neglects his Jewish studies. Asher begins to go to art museums where he studies paintings, but is not sure what to make of paintings of nudes, nor paintings of crucifixions. Aryeh, returning home after a long trip to Russia for the Rebbe, discovers some drawings Asher has made of crucifixions as a way of studying them, and is furious. Asher's father thinks that his gift is foolish and from the sitra achra ("Other Side"), and wants Rivkeh to prevent him from going to museums; however, Rivkeh, torn between the wishes of her husband and the needs of her son, knows it is pointless to forbid Asher from going.
Eventually, the Rebbe intercedes and allows Asher to study under a great living artist, Jacob Kahn, a non-observant Jew who is an admirer of the Rebbe. Jacob Kahn teaches Asher artistic techniques and art history, and encourages Asher to paint the truth, so as not to become a "whore." Meanwhile, since Asher continues to refuse to relocate to Europe, Rivkeh moves there to support Asher's father, leaving Asher to live with his uncle and apprentice with Jacob Kahn. After several years, Asher has his first art show in New York, launching his career.
Their work in Europe completed, Asher's parents move back to Brooklyn, at which point Asher decides to travel to Europe to view and study great art. He visits Florence in particular and spends many hours studying The Deposition as well as Michelangelo's David. Later, after relocating to Paris, Asher paints his masterpiece: two works that use the symbolism of the crucifixion to express his mother's anguish and torment, since there is no artistic form in the Jewish tradition to fully express these feelings. When these works are displayed at a New York art show (the first of his that Asher's parents have ever attended), the imagery so offends his parents and community that the Rebbe asks him to move away. Asher, sensing that he is destined to journey the world, to express its anguish through his art, but to cause pain by doing so, decides to return to Europe.
Setting
My Name is Asher Lev is placed in the 1950s in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. Asher also studies art outside his community in New York, Massachusetts, and Europe.
Characters
Asher Lev – Asher is the protagonist and narrator of the story. The book takes the reader through the first segment of Asher's life, ending when he's around 22 years of age. During his childhood, Asher is overwhelmed with his passion for drawing and painting so much that he becomes apathetic towards most of the world around him. Because of his lack of dedication and focus towards his education, the people surrounding him (mainly his father) begin to feel ashamed of what he has become. Asher isn't rebelling intentionally, but he has grown too strongly attached to his art that he can't help himself. As Asher grows older, he learns to channel his emotion and energy into his artwork and becomes immensely successful.
Jacob Kahn – Jacob Kahn is a successful artist. He freed himself from all conditioning forces such as religion, community, and popularity in an attempt to create a lifestyle in which he could express himself freely. He believes in creating balance between inner emotions and true identity. He became Asher's mentor and taught him fundamental techniques that would influence and improve the overall progression of Asher's artistic future. He is extremely firm, and usually so in a demeaning manner.
Aryeh Lev – Asher's father and an important member of the Jewish community. Deeply committed to his work for the Rebbe, he travels throughout Europe building yeshivas and saving Jews from Russian persecution. Aryeh holds a master's degree in political science[3] and speaks English, Yiddish, French, and Russian.[4] He highly distrusts gentiles due to his father's death at the hands of a drunken axe-wielding Christian.[5] Aryeh does not understand art and cannot comprehend why his son would spend his life making art. He gets in many disagreements over Asher's gift which causes him to dislike his son. Aryeh is close-minded, stubborn, and has difficulty with value systems other than his own.
Rivkeh Lev – Rivkeh Lev is torn between her love of her husband and son. She struggles daily with the conflict between them. After she recovers from her illness, she returns to school to finish her brother Yaakov's work. She receives a master's degree and then pursues a doctorate in Russian affairs. Rivkeh is torn, but ultimately sides with her husband, and goes with him to Europe leaving Asher behind to live with his uncle. Rivkeh doesn't always understand Asher's art work.
The Rebbe – Leader of the Ladover Hasidic Jews, it is he who orders Aryeh to travel. The Rebbe understands Asher's gift and arranges for him to study under the tutelage of Jacob Kahn.[6]
Yudel Krinsky – The proprietor of the shop where Asher buys supplies, he was rescued by Aryeh after spending years in Siberia. Krinsky feels that Asher shouldn't cause a good man like his father so much trouble.[7] Despite this, he tolerates and enables the art because he is friends with Asher.
Yaakov – Asher's uncle who died in a car crash when Asher was six years old. His death had a very profound effect on Asher's mother. Rivkeh became very ill and depressed because they were very close. Like Aryeh, he travelled for the Rebbe, and this disturbs Rivkeh.
Yitzchok – Asher's wealthy uncle who supports Asher and his art skills. He is kind and generous, and gives Asher a place to stay while his parents are in Europe. Yitzchok is one of the first to recognize that Asher's ability can make a fortune, and he invests in his work. Asher lived with him for a while.
Anna Schaeffer – A very sophisticated woman and owner of the art gallery where Asher's art is displayed. Anna's work to promote Asher's works results in much recognition for Asher. She is introduced to Asher through Jacob Kahn. She is impatient, but cares about her artists.
Mrs. Rackover – The Levs' housekeeper. She knows about Siberia and understands the suffering that Yudel Krinsky experienced there. She also is one of the first people to understand Asher's artistic gifts.
Themes
Conflicting traditions
This book explores conflicting traditions (in this case the tradition of Judaism and the tradition of art), father versus son, contentedness with one's life versus peace in the family (the Jewish value of "shalom bayit"), the traditional Jewish world versus secular America.
Suffering
My Name Is Asher Lev explores the nature of suffering. The discrimination that Asher's father has against Asher's artistic tendencies can be related to the suffering of the many Jews in Russia and Germany that were oppressed by the government. Just as they were oppressed and punished for their beliefs, Asher is negatively viewed by his father, his teachers, and his peers. Art is Asher's real religion, and not only he, but his mother suffers for it. When Asher tries to portray his mother's suffering, "[his] search for a motif reveals none powerful enough in [his] own tradition, and so [he] turn[s] to the central theme of suffering in the Christian tradition: crucifixion."[8]
Beauty
Asher Lev's pursuit of art is complicated by his upbringing and training to see Jewish perspectives on beauty. Via his training, Asher Lev explores aesthetic traditions of beauty.
Self-identity
The book title itself signals Asher's issue with self-identity. Jacob Kahn tells Asher, "As an artist you are responsible to no one and to nothing, except to yourself and to the truth as you see it."
Reception
Considered one of Potok's best works, it has a sequel, The Gift of Asher Lev. The first "Brooklyn Crucifixion", a work by Asher which plays a central role in the novel's conclusion, is an actual painting by Potok, who was an accomplished artist as well as a novelist and rabbi; the second Crucifixion, which is described in the book as being superior to the first, does not have a real-life counterpart.
The book is a thinly disguised depiction of the Lubavitch community.[9] "Brooklyn Parkway", with its heavy traffic and island promenades, is a reference to Eastern Parkway. However, contrary to popular opinion, the character of Yudel Krinsky is not meant to refer to Chaim Yehuda Krinsky, one of the assistants to Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Chaim Potok was an American author, novelist, playwright, editor and rabbi. Of the more than dozen novels he authored, his first book The Chosen (1967), was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies and which was adapted into a well-received 1981 feature film by the same title.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to many as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad operates mainly in the wider world and caters to secularized Jews.
Yitzchak (Isaac) Hutner was an American Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean).
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Modzitz, or Modzhitz, is the name of a Hasidic group within Orthodox Judaism that derives its name from Modrzyce, one of the boroughs of the town of Dęblin, Poland, located on the Vistula River.
Munkatch Hasidism is a Hasidic sect within Haredi Judaism of mostly Hungarian Hasidic Jews. It was founded and led by Polish-born Grand Rebbe Shlomo Spira, who was the rabbi of the town of Strzyżów (1858–1882) and Munkacs (1882–1893). Members of the congregation are mainly referred to as Munkacs Hasidim, or Munkatcher Hasidim. It is named after the Hungarian town in which it was established, Munkatsh.
Shotz is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the city of Suceava, Romania.
Sanz is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the city of Sanz in Galicia. The dynasty was founded by the rebbe Rabbi Chaim Halberstam (1793–1876) who was the rabbi of Nowy Sącz and the author of the work Divrei Chaim by which name he is known as well.
Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam (1874–1941) was the second Bobover Rebbe. He was murdered by the Nazis in 1941.
Ropshitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty, or rabbinical family and group, who are descendants of Rabbi Naftali Zvi of Ropshitz (1760–1827). Ropshitz is the name of a town in southern Poland, known in Polish as Ropczyce.
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually prestigious Roshei Yeshiva or Hasidic rebbes, who are also usually regarded by many Haredi Jews to be the Gedolim ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism. Before the Holocaust, it was the supreme authority for the World Agudath Israel in Europe.
The Gift of Asher Lev is a novel by Chaim Potok, published in 1990. It is a sequel to Potok's novel My Name Is Asher Lev (1972).
Messianism in Chabad refers to the contested beliefs among members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community—a group within Hasidic Judaism—regarding the Jewish messiah. Many in the Chabad community believe that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the deceased seventh Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, is the Jewish messiah. The issue remains controversial within both the Chabad movement and the broader Jewish community.
Siget or Ujhel-Siget or Sighet Hasidism, or Sigter Hasidim, is a movement of Hungarian Haredi Jews who adhere to Hasidism, and who are referred to as Sigeter Hasidim.
The Chosen is a 1981 American drama film directed by Jeremy Kagan, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Chaim Potok, published in 1967. It stars Maximilian Schell and Rod Steiger. At the 1981 Montréal World Film Festival, the film won Grand Prix of the Americas, and Steiger won best actor. Analysis Film Releasing Corp and 20th Century Fox released it in the US in April 1982.
Koidanov is a Hasidic dynasty originating from the city of Dzyarzhynsk (Koidanov), Belarus, where it was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Perlow in 1833. Koidanov is a branch of both Lechovitch Hasidism and Karlin-Stolin Hasidism as Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Perlow was the paternal grandson of Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch and the maternal grandson of Rabbi Asher Perlow of Karlin-Stolin. Koidanov was the smallest of the three Lithuanian Hasidic dynasties, with most of its Hasidim being murdered in the Holocaust. The dynasty was re-established after the war in Tel Aviv, then moved to Bnei Brak, where the majority of the dynasty is located, but there are Chassidim located around the world.
Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg was a rabbi, author, and Jewish communal leader in Poland and Canada. He is best known for his Hebrew translation of the Zohar, and for popularizing the tale of the Golem of Prague.
Zvi Aryeh Benzion Rosenfeld was an American rabbi and educator credited with introducing Breslov Hasidism to the United States. Teaching children, teens, and adults in New York City for nearly three decades, he inspired a large percentage of his students from non-religious and Modern Orthodox homes to become Hasidic, and also acquainted them with the teachings of the 19th-century Hasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. He led the first official group of American Breslovers to Rebbe Nachman's grave in Uman, Ukraine, in 1963, and arranged for the first English translation of two key Breslov texts, Shivchei HaRan and Sichot HaRan. He was also an active supporter of the Breslov community in Israel, raising charity funds on behalf of needy families and the majority of funds for the construction of the Breslov Yeshiva in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.
↑ Potok in an interview said that the Ladover Yeshiva in the novel was the real life Lubavich Yeshiva. Conversations with Chaim Potok. pg. 17. University Press of Mississippi (July 9, 2001)
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