Uploaded by Anthony McEndarfer

Secularity Kills Religion

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McEndarfer 1
Anthony McEndarfer
Mr. Snyder
Eng. 9 H., Per. 1
24 October 2022
Secularity Kills Religion
The Chosen is a novel written by Chaim Potok. Reuven, one of the main characters, is playing a
good game of American baseball when he gets hit in the eye with a baseball by a boy named
Danny. They went to study together and went to college together. Danny is secular, which means
he studies books outside of his religion. Danny's father expects him to be the next rabbi, but
Danny refuses because he is reading secular books that are changing his mind. Danny keeps
reading secular books like Freud, which makes him move away and cut his earlocks, which are
keys to Hasidic religion. Danny is
just like Rebs' brother; he also became secular and his
secularity killed his beliefs.
Danny is a Jew, but he feels like he is drifting off of the Hasidic ways. He desires to pursue
studies outside of his religion, indicating that he is secular. " Secular literature was forbidden,
and the Hasidim lived shut off from the rest of the world. Anything that was not Jewish and
Hasidic was forbidden "(Potok 100). Danny does not know if he should do this. He feels like he
should but shouldn't because his father has serious expectations of him becoming the next rabbi,
which is the closest thing to a god in Hasidic Judaism. Danny goes to the library to study secular
books that push him further away from Hasidis. This leads to him becoming more and more out
of his religion, almost like secularity is killing his religion inside of him.
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When Danny's father discovers that Danny has been reading secular books, he realizes that
Danny is almost becoming Reb Saunders' brother, because he has done the same things as
Danny. " 'Reuven, I did not want my Daniel to become like my brother. May he rest in peace. It
was better that I should have had no son at all than to have a brilliant son who had no soul. I
looked at my Daniel when he was four years old, and I said to myself, "How will I teach this
mind what it is to have a soul How will I teach this mind to understand pain? How will I teach it
to want to take on another person’s suffering? How will I do this and not lose my son, my
precious son whom I love as I love the Master of the Universe Himself? How will I do this and
not cause my son, God forbid, to abandon the Master of the Universe and His Commandments?
(264.)
Danny’s College Samson The Raphael Hirsch Seminary and College was the only yeshiva in the
United States that offered a secular college education. It was located on Bedford Avenue, a few
blocks from Eastern Parkway. My father had told me once that it had been built in the early
twenties by a group of Orthodox Jews who wanted their sons to have both a Jewish and a secular
education. Its college faculty was supposed to be excellent, and its rabbinic faculty consisted of
some of the greatest Talmudists in the United States. The rabbinic ordination of its Talmud
faculty was looked upon as the highest of Orthodox Jewish honors.Danny’s College Samson The
Raphael Hirsch Seminary and College was the only yeshiva in the United States that offered a
secular college education. It was located on Bedford Avenue, a few blocks from Eastern
Parkway. My father had told me once that it had been built in the early twenties by a group of
Orthodox Jews who wanted their sons to have both a Jewish and a secular education. Its college
faculty was supposed to be excellent, and its rabbinic faculty consisted of some of the greatest
Talmudists in the United States. The rabbinic ordination of its Talmud faculty was looked upon
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as the highest of Orthodox Jewish honors. Danny has figured out his pathway of picking whether
to be the next rabbi and has chosen to be an orthodox Jew. He wants to be a psychologist rather
than a rabbi. The next rabbi will be his brother Levi, rather than Danny. He is becoming a
psychologist because he wants to explore his hasidic nature. Levi is to be the next rabbi, so Reb
might have to wait because Levi is still in school. Chaim Potok is the author of the book
Chaim Potok is the author of the book The Chosen. It is about a two-jews named Reuven who is
enjoying a wonderful game of American baseball when a boy named Danny hits him in the eye
with a baseball. They make up and become friends as they travel to study and attend college.
Danny is a secular person. He reads novels that have nothing to do with his religion. Danny
rejects his father's expectations for him to succeed him as the next rabbi because he has changed
his mind after reading nonreligious literature. As a consequence of reading secular books like
Freud and other studies, Danny is moving away and getting rid of his earlocks, which are
essential to Hasidic religion. Danny is completely like Rebs' brother; he incorporated a secular
lifestyle and did the same things as him.
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