Friendship in The Chosen The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, is a book about the friendship between two boys from very different Jewish religious backgrounds. Their initial distrust and hatred towards each other due to their different backgrounds gives way to understanding and develops into a deep friendship. Danny Saunders grew up in a Hasidic environment. His father is the rabbi of his synagogue and sect, and is well respected as a great Tzaddik and Talmud scholar. His ancestors over the past five generations were very honorable and respected rabbis in their own synagogues, and Rabbi Saunders' son Danny is expected to follow in their footsteps. Danny is also a great Talmud scholar and a deeply religious person, but his friendship with a less religious boy draws him into a more secular world, changing many of his views. Reuven Malter grew up in a modern Orthodox Jewish environment. His father is the rabbi of his synagogue and a high school teacher. Reuven is a very modern Jew who learns a wide variety of Jewish subjects. Although he invests a lot of time in the Gemara, the amount he learns is nothing compared to what the Chassidim learn. This difference in education and religious attitudes causes friction between Chassidim and modern Orthodox Jews. Chassidim believe that modern Orthodox are corrupt in their beliefs – they should study the Gemara much more and be much more religious in everything they do, such as praying to G-d. You wouldn't expect to find a Modern Orthodox boy playing with a Hasidic boy. The two boys were playing a baseball game against each other – the Chasidim, versus the Modern Orthodox Jews. There are obvious feelings of hatred between the two teams. Near the end of the match, Danny hits Reuven in the eye with the ball, sending him to the hospital. For the moment, they become enemies. Danny visits Reuven in the hospital and they become friends. Danny invites Reuven to his house to learn Gemara with his father, and he accepts the offer. They get closer and closer, until they finally become best friends. Their friendship survives difficult times. When Rabbi Malter makes a pro-Zionist speech that influences the entire world, Rabbi Saunders hates him and all non-Hassidim, because Hasidim are anti-Zionist. Rabbi Saunders forbids his son from speaking to Reuven. After two years, the anti-Zionist movement fails and Rabbi Saunders allows Danny to speak to Reuven again. They develop an extremely close friendship again, realizing how valuable it is. As their relationship develops, Danny is drawn into the secular world, which upsets his father. Yet their friendship survives and flourishes, making Danny happier than ever before, easing much of his father's anger. Chaim Potoks The Chosen shows how two people from completely different backgrounds can bond in such a close friendship. Whether or not their families approved of their friendship, they still managed to maintain a lasting and meaningful relationship..