We could try politics or religion. See how that works out.

Is it today we talk about Asher? I'm too lazy to check.

We could try politics or religion. See how that works out.

Or, we could combine them! How about this? "The Trinity is cool because you could use preferential voting to choose the most popular hypostase." Discuss.

Is it today we talk about Asher? I'm too lazy to check.

Yup. Somebody want to jump in first?

Yes! I made general notes. Yep, I love this book.

His community gives him every help they can. They would *prefer* him to follow his family's footsteps in the important work they are doing, but it's obvious that Asher is utterly unsuited to that life, that he is driven to art. He himself is driven to the point of sickness in his efforts to conform. His parents love him and don't want to cause him pain, but they are vowed to the defense and progress of their way of life. Art is a mystery to them, possibly sinful, but it is Asher's passion and they want to understand.

His art finally takes him, though, to a realm of truth that cannot be reconciled with the truth of the community. He raises questions and disturbances, and the community cannot survive with the constant roiling at its heart.

The antagonist is Tradition, tradition that expects people to subsume their own passions to its service. The Rabbi balances Asher's passion and the traditions as long as he can, but in the end Asher cannot serve two masters. He himself knows he's gone to far and wants to pull back, but his truth will not let him.

He was raised to integrity. He cannot back down from the truth.

But sometimes he and his father do seem to be antagonistic...they make some peace but...I wouldn't say his father isn't an antagonist.

I agree with erika -- I mean -- you could say that his father's believe in the tradition causes the antagonism but his father would not have supported him had the Rebbe (?) not done so.

Beyond just plot points- and I loved the story. I adored its structure- or to use an art word form. Repetition, almost a chant. The (paraphrasing) "I did not know, but I sensed it was the truth" gave me chills. I love that irrelevant things were left out. I love the dreams of his ancestors- like (hmm is coda the right word?) a coda.

It nearly read as a poem to me.

I loved the story too. I think the tradition/father/atonement caused the antagonism, but I think it's also what made him an artist. He could draw but "millions of people can draw." It was the need to make sense of the world, that it's an ugly place, that drawing in the sense of making pretty pictures isn't enough.

His community gives him every help they can. They would *prefer* him to follow his family's footsteps in the important work they are doing, but it's obvious that Asher is utterly unsuited to that life, that he is driven to art. He himself is driven to the point of sickness in his efforts to conform. His parents love him and don't want to cause him pain, but they are vowed to the defense and progress of their way of life. Art is a mystery to them, possibly sinful, but it is Asher's passion and they want to understand.

Asher's Ladover community's primary goal is to shelter its members from the damaging influence of the outside world, and encourage those members to engage, day and night, in the study of Torah. A secondary goal is to protect and nourish Ladover institutions all over the world. Often advancing the secondary goal requires allowing some members to involve themselves in the outside world a great deal.

I think when the Rebbe saw that Asher was incapable of being the type of Ladover Hasid who sits in a yeshiva (house of study) all day studying Torah and Talmud, he realized that Asher can best serve the community by nourishing his talent, and then, one day, contributing back to the community. I don't think it's said explicitly, but I got the impression that Jacob Kahn, and many other non-affiliated Jews, gave the Ladover Hassidim considerable financial support to continue their endeavors across the world. It was only after the Crucifixion paintings that the Rebbe understood. Art is not a discipline whose study and practice can be controlled or directed. And that's when the Rebbe sends him away.

After reading the story, I found that I was much more interested in the characters around our protaganist (the Rebbe, Jacob Kahn, his parents, Yudel Krimsky) than in Asher Lev himself.

I loved this book. So much so that I’m going to read the sequel to find out what happens next. (I hope it’s worth it.)

What struck me most about Asher Lev was the very strict separation between the secular and the spiritual. In Asher’s world, the word of Hasidic Judaism, there is no secular life. Everything, every choice, is supposed to be made for the benefit of the community, which in turn serves the will of the Master of the Universe. Asher’s choices set the entire community off balance. Ultimately, that is why he must leave. It doesn’t matter that Asher continues to live his life as an observant Ladover Jew; the fact that he does what he does makes being a good Ladover Jew impossible.

Personally, I had trouble wrapping my head around his world. I get it in concept, but I cannot understand it in execution. I feel that is because I am a-religious. While I did the Sunday School thing as a child, religion was never a part of my life in any sense nor is it now. I suppose the people of Asher’s community might have trouble wrapping their head around my existence with its utter lack of tradition (except in the most basic sense) and trappings of faith.

Other things that I noted:

I found myself frustrated by the constant proclamations that Asher is a great artist. I wanted to see his pictures and judge for myself. I understand the reason for Potok writing it this way. Nevertheless, I wanted to be shown, not told. I resented being told to take it on faith.

Illness as guilt trip?. It seemed that anytime someone got sick, they were rewarded. It makes me wonder about the culture. Asher’s mother becomes ill in her grief and is rewarded by being allowed to get an education. Asher gets ill when forced to go to Europe and is rewarded by being sent home. Jacob succumbs to fits of melancholy and is rewarded with love, attention, concern, etc. Given the number of times we were told that Asher’s father came back from the baths with his hair wet in the winter, I expected him to come down with pneumonia (as Asher’s mother often warned him) and he would be rewarded by Asher giving up painting. I am very grateful to Potok for not falling into this cliché, and I apologize for doubting him.

I loved the intensity of little Asher. I wonder how many talented children are left behind by lack of parents’ understanding or interest in a child’s hobbies. How sad for Asher’s mother, though. Her encouragement of his gift forces her to make unpleasant choices.