The Chosen - Definition and Overview

The Chosen is a book by Chaim Potok published in 1967.

It is about the friendship between a Modern Orthodox Jew named Reuven Malter, and a Hasidic Jew named Danny Saunders. Reuven's family sees observant Judaism as being compatible with being part of the secular world around them; they also are Zionists. Danny's family sees the tendencies of the secular world around them as being incompatible with living a traditional Jewish life, and they believe that Zionism, the attempt by Jews to create a state of their own, is not legitimate without the arrival of the messiah. Despite these differences, Danny and Reuven form a friendship.

Danny Saunders has problems related to his father, Reb Saunders, who is a Hasidic rabbi. The father expects his son to succeed him as a rabbi, yet Danny wants to go into psychology, a secular profession.

The Chosen was made into a movie in 1981.