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Compare and contrast the way Asher's parents relate to him.

My Name is Asher Lev focuses heavily on the clash between cultures and the coming of age of a boy caught between two opposed traditions. This conflict is further conveyed in the mixed usage of language from both worlds. For example, at the very beginning of the book there is a paragraph beginning, "Often on Shabbos or festivals…." Here, the colloquial Yiddish word, "Shabbos" for the Sabbath is juxtaposed with the English word, "festivals," for the holidays. In Lev's household, the word "festivals would not have been used. This juxtaposition makes clear the change Lev has undergone and the continued cultural conflict in which he is mired. After all, he has forsaken only some, but not all of the Hebrew or Yiddish expressions for English ones.

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