Father In The Chosen

In our world we have many kinds of fathers. What is a father? A father is a tool for reproduction. Reproduction happens all the time in the world. Plants reproduce, animals reproduce even humans reproduce. Seemingly unrelated, these examples share one similarity, the reproduction of nature. Each kind bears offspring of its own kind, that entails offspring of their own nature (e.g. lions produce lions, humans produce human babies and trees produces saplings). Commonly used in the New Testament, trees become the symbol of allegories of many characters in the Bible. In the Scriptures Jesus, referring to the nature of man and his works, said, “Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad …show more content…
A father 's primary teaching resource comes from his own understanding and experience. In The Chosen, the difference portrayed between Reb Saunders and David Malter comes out in a stark contrast. Having a brilliant son, for Reb Saunders, is a nightmare! Plaguing Isaac throughout the book is the question of how to lead his son to understand compassion yet not destroy the father-son relationship or forsake the Maker. How will I do this he asks, this referring to “the way I was taught by my father and not drive him away from Torah?”2 Meanwhile, different challenges arise for David, for one, allowing his son to talk causes some scenes of disrespect and dishonour of Reb Saunders and even Mr. Malter himself. As the fathers progress in their different parenting styles, two very important changes are noticeable. Danny experienced pain as his father desired, but the pain was not helpful, in the end, Reb Saunders caused a severance in his relationship with his son; fortunately, though not with God. Reuven, on the other hand, experienced a deeper level of intimacy with his father and from that level developed his father 's character. Both of their fathers had differing materials to work with that renders different results; thankfully, neither of them destroyed their sons in the process nor did either of their sons end up completely lacking a mind and a soul. Both trees possessed enough nutrients and were …show more content…
The ideals that the father has become intertwined with his son 's heart. The analogy of a tree fits perfectly with the concept of fathering. The fruit 's quality depends on where the tree is being cultivated, the methods invoked and the nutrients being supplied and of course the tree kind. Phrases like, “Like father like son” depict the characteristic of the God-given process of reproducing nature. Fathers need to be cautious that to not raise their sons in a way that drives them away from their fathers, and from God. In order to be effective fathers, men must cultivate their relationship with their sons by getting to know them, building bridges of trust and boundaries, then create strategies on how to parent to achieve the goals set out for them. Mr. Malter and Isaac Saunders experienced both points of success and failure, they were not perfect parents, yet they both created fine specimens that, while in some areas different than their fathers, encapsulate the main goal of their father. Now since The Chosen does not mention in depth the parenting goals of David Malter, the main focus being on Danny and his struggles, it is nearly impossible to surmise what David wanted for Reuven. However, for Danny the books ends up with him going to college and not becoming a rabbi, Isaac succeeded in his primary goal “to make certain his soul would be the soul of a tzaddik no matter what he did with his life.”5 Let their story be a reminder that