SYNOPSIS (via the publisher)
Asher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day and believes in the Ribbono Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. Asher Lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels, even when it leads him to blasphemy. In this stirring and often visionary novel, Chaim Potok traces Asher’s passage between these two identities, the one consecrated to God, the other subject only to the imagination.
Asher Lev grows up in a cloistered Hasidic community in postwar Brooklyn, a world suffused by ritual and revolving around a charismatic Rebbe. But in time, his gift threatens to estrange him from that world and the parents he adores. As it follows his struggle, My Name Is Asher Lev becomes a luminous portrait of the artist, by turns heartbreaking and exultant, a modern classic.
PERSONAL REFLECTION by Michael Winters
Someone in our discussion group pointed out that this story is like a superhero origin story. It’s true. Asher struggles to please his parents and fumbles at fitting into his community but he has a gift of artistic talent. With the help of a few guides along the way, he figures out how to overcome his challenges, though there are many negative consequences in the wake.
This book was excellent for discussion in our context of a church-based arts program. Reading this book made me even more want to help foster a culture of acceptance and welcome for artists in our own Christian community. Asher’s community didn’t know what to do with artists. There wasn’t room for Asher to be his full creative self and thrive there. I hope we can help make room for people to be their full creative selves through Sojourn Arts and at Sojourn Midtown.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
The paintings Asher paints and exhibits at the end of the book bring the tension between him and his family to a breaking point. What do you think of Asher’s decision to make and exhibit those paintings?
Various characters have different ideas about the role of the artist in society. What did Jacob Kahn, the Rebbe, Asher’s mom and Asher’s dad think the role of an artist was? Do you agree or disagree with their ideas?
At one point when he is young, Asher’s father questions whether Asher’s artistic gift is from “the Other Side”, meaning not from God. Later, Asher himself questions his gift, too. What do you make of Asher’s gift and his seemingly intrinsic drive to create?
Asher has a rich inner world that his parents don’t seem to see. What did you notice about Asher when he was young?
As Asher continues making art in his youth, tensions develop not just with his parents but with his community. The religious community he’s part of has clear expectations for a “good Jewish boy.” Asher mostly wants to please the community but finds himself at odds with it. What did you think about the role of the religious community in Asher’s life?
A number of times through the book Asher is drawn to Christian imagery of Jesus, such as pietà and crucifixion images. What do you think these images meant to him?