Rachael Zinnecker
Mrs. Lyke
English 11-1
5 May 2017
A Guilty Conscience Creates Distance Hasidic Judaism has been common practice for many jews all over the world for many years. This particular sect of Judaism is known for the extremely conservative ways of life and their seclusion from society. Living in a Hasidic community came to be a challenge for author Chaim Potok as part of his writing style included language and descriptions of things the community frowned upon. Potok took how he felt surrounded by people who didn't agree with his lifestyle and turned it into a book, My Name is Asher Lev, to show how he felt on a day to day basis. My Name is Asher Lev describes how a young boy named Asher goes through life struggling with his passion …show more content…
Many times, people would look out of a window, whether it be Asher or someone else, that would lead Asher to realize how much distance he had between his faith and his day to day life. At one point in Asher’s life, he realized the street he had grown up on felt “hostile to [him], as if resentful of [his] journeys away from it” because each time he returned he brought back something that had not been there before (241). Asher knew in that moment he had changed from the young boy who had once roamed the street with no knowledge of the evils of the world to a person who illustrated the evils of the world. This idea to Asher made him feel like he didn't belong in his community and was an outcast because of the evil nature he brought to his home. He also felt a similar principle when his mother was looking out of the window and mentioned she had “waited at the windows of almost half the cities in the world” for Asher’s father to return for business (294). Asher realized he was no longer being told by those older than him how things should be in life. He made decisions that pushed him away from the Hasidic community and away from those who taught him the ways of his faith. Asher also felt secluded when his “parents stood framed in the living-room window” watching him leave to start a new life outside of the Hasidic community because he had betrayed their values (369). Asher knew he went against his religion and did something that distanced him more than anything else from his faith because of a painting he created to reflect his true feelings and his parents watching him leave from the window describes the distance he wedged between himself and his parents as well. Asher continued to see through the window of his life through his painting in which his mother hung, “her wrists tied... with the
Mrs. Lyke
English 11-1
5 May 2017
A Guilty Conscience Creates Distance Hasidic Judaism has been common practice for many jews all over the world for many years. This particular sect of Judaism is known for the extremely conservative ways of life and their seclusion from society. Living in a Hasidic community came to be a challenge for author Chaim Potok as part of his writing style included language and descriptions of things the community frowned upon. Potok took how he felt surrounded by people who didn't agree with his lifestyle and turned it into a book, My Name is Asher Lev, to show how he felt on a day to day basis. My Name is Asher Lev describes how a young boy named Asher goes through life struggling with his passion …show more content…
Many times, people would look out of a window, whether it be Asher or someone else, that would lead Asher to realize how much distance he had between his faith and his day to day life. At one point in Asher’s life, he realized the street he had grown up on felt “hostile to [him], as if resentful of [his] journeys away from it” because each time he returned he brought back something that had not been there before (241). Asher knew in that moment he had changed from the young boy who had once roamed the street with no knowledge of the evils of the world to a person who illustrated the evils of the world. This idea to Asher made him feel like he didn't belong in his community and was an outcast because of the evil nature he brought to his home. He also felt a similar principle when his mother was looking out of the window and mentioned she had “waited at the windows of almost half the cities in the world” for Asher’s father to return for business (294). Asher realized he was no longer being told by those older than him how things should be in life. He made decisions that pushed him away from the Hasidic community and away from those who taught him the ways of his faith. Asher also felt secluded when his “parents stood framed in the living-room window” watching him leave to start a new life outside of the Hasidic community because he had betrayed their values (369). Asher knew he went against his religion and did something that distanced him more than anything else from his faith because of a painting he created to reflect his true feelings and his parents watching him leave from the window describes the distance he wedged between himself and his parents as well. Asher continued to see through the window of his life through his painting in which his mother hung, “her wrists tied... with the