Potok, Chaim
Born: February 17, 1927, in New York, New York
Died: July 23, 2002, in Merion, Pennsylvania
Vocations: Novelist, Biographer, Children’s Book Author, Editor, Professor
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Merion, Montgomery County; Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

Keywords: Athenaem Award; Bryn Mawr College; The Chosen; Hebrew Literature Prize; Jewish Publication Society; Jewish Theological Seminary; The Promise; University of Pennsylvania; Yeshiva University

Abstract: Born Herman Harold Potok on February 17, 1927, in New York City, Potok was raised by his Orthodox Jewish parents. His conflict between being an Orthodox Jew and being an artist fueled his fiction and nonfiction writing. Potok’s best known works—The Chosen and The Promise, for example—examine Jewish culture and their relationships inside American society. A trained rabbi, Potok was an important figure in 20th century Jewish-American literature, both nationally and in Pennsylvania. By the time Potok passed away in Merion, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 2002, he had established himself as a devout Jew and an expert of narrative.

Biography:

Herman Harold Potok was born to Polish-Jewish immigrants Benjamin Max and Mollie Potok on February 17, 1927, in New York City. His Hebrew name was Chaim. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and environment, young Potok struggled to maintain his imagination through painting and writing fiction while simultaneously being faithful to the strict traditions of religious scholarship set forth by the Orthodox teachings. Literary works like James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man prompted Potok’s interest in becoming a writer. Graduating from Yeshiva University with a degree in English, he showed promise by earning summa cum laude honors in 1950. To balance his undergraduate studies, Potok trained to be a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary Teachers’ Institute where he graduated with a Master of Hebrew Literature degree and several awards, including the Hebrew Literature Prize.

Following the Korean War, in which he served as a chaplain, Potok married Adena Sarah Mosevitzky on June 8, 1958, and became the father of three children: Rena, Naama, and Akiva. During this time he began teaching at Jewish universities and institutes. In 1967, with the publication of The Chosen, Potok gained notice as an author of Jewish-American literature and as the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publications Society based in Philadelphia. Throughout the eighties, he continued to write and was an important visiting professor at some of Pennsylvania’s most well-respected universities, such as Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania. Potok has often been recognized as one of the most influential Jewish-American authors of the second half of the twentieth century. His success comes from his ability to describe the conflicting nature of living in a religious community and a larger secular community. This theme is particularly dominant in his most popular novels, The Chosen and its sequel, The Promise. In The Chosen, the main character Danny Saunders is expected to follow his father in becoming a leader in the Hasidic community, but Danny is more interested in secular studies, especially psychology. Although the conflict is centered on the beliefs of different Jewish sects, the conflict is universal. Critics have both respected this novel and reproved it. Its dialogue and plot resolutions have been called boring and systematic. Nevertheless, The Chosen was nominated for the National Book Award and won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, and The Promise received the Athenaem Award. In addition to the debate about art and religion, Potok examines the theme of family versus the individual in his third novel, My Name is Asher Lev. Potok’s autobiographically-based hero decides to isolate himself from his family to fulfill a desire to be an artist. Throughout his literature, Potok’s life as a rabbi and writer provides a model for obtaining a rich balance of duty and rebellion to youth of any religion.

As a Jewish scholar he played an important role in the Jewish community, both inside and outside Pennsylvania. He spent nine years editing for the Jewish Publications Society (JPS) in Philadelphia and taught around Philadelphia throughout his career. While working as editor of the JPS, Potok altered the reputation of the publishing house. Traditionally, JPS was interested in scholarly works, but that changed to a more liberal stance in Potok’s tenure, as exemplified by the publication of The Jewish Catalog—a modern handbook for Jewish life. Later, his mastery of Jewish studies was shown with the publication of Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s Story of the Jews. This was his first nonfiction piece and it delivered a four-thousand-year history of Judaism and its interaction with Western culture. Critics revered the work for the personalized style and intellectualism. During the 1990s, Potok focused on writing short fiction and children’s literature.

He died on July 23, 2002, of brain cancer in his long-time home of Merion, Pennsylvania.

Works:

Fiction

• The Chosen. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967.
• The Promise. New York: Knopf, 1969.
• My Name Is Asher Lev. New York: Knopf, 1972.
• In the Beginning. New York: Knopf, 1975.
• The Book of Lights. New York: Knopf, 1981.
• Davita’s Harp. New York: Knopf, 1985.
• The Gift of Asher Lev. New York: Knopf, 1990.
• I Am the Clay. New York: Knopf, 1992.

Nonfiction

• Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews. New York: Knopf, 1978.
• Isaac Stern: My First Seventy-Nine Years.(with Isaac Stern) New York: Knopf, 1991.

Sources:

• Abramson, Edward. Chaim Potok. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1986.
• “Chaim Potok." The Gale Literary Database: Contemporary Authors. 2004. <http://www.galenet.com>.
• “Chaim Potok." The Gale Literary Database: Contemporary Literary Criticism. 2003. <http://www.galenet.com>.
• Sternlicht, Sanford. Chaim Potok: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood Publishing, 2000.
• Walden, Daniel, ed. Conversations with Chaim Potok. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2001.

For More Information:

• Walden, Daniel, ed. Conversations with Chaim Potok. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2001.

This biography was prepared by Joseph D. Bueter.