During Reuven’s visits to his father in the hospital,
Mr. Malter speaks passionately about the need to build a Jewish
homeland in Palestine. One morning, Reuven raises the topic of Zionism
with Reb Saunders. Reb Saunders flies into a rage and screams that
the activities of the secular Zionists are sacrilegious because
it is profane to build a Jewish home in Israel before the arrival
of the Messiah. Danny tells Reuven that if Reb Saunders knew of
David Malter’s Zionist beliefs, he would throw Reuven out of the
house. Reuven never mentions the topic again in front of Reb Saunders,
and Reb Saunders seems to forget the incident.
A few weeks later, while Reuven and Danny
are studying in the library together, Danny confesses that one of
the main reasons he worries about his brother Levi’s health is that
he wants Levi to take over his father’s Hasidic dynasty so that
he himself can study psychology. Danny remarks that the day he breaks
this news to his father, he will need to have Reuven nearby for
support. Reuven tries to change the subject by coyly mentioning Danny’s
sister. Danny quietly and peremptorily informs his friend that his
sister was promised in marriage at the age of two, and the subject
is never discussed between them again.
In August, Reuven and his father again go to their cottage
near Peekskill, where his father recovers from his illness. That
month, the United States drops atomic bombs on Japan, and the war
with Japan ends. That fall, Reuven and Danny enter Hirsch College,
and Danny begins to wear glasses.
Analysis: Chapters 11–12
In Chapter 11, Potok alternates
between personal and historical tragedies, showing suffering to
exist on both an individual and a societal level. The news of the
German offensive is followed by news of Levi’s illness. As the war
in Europe intensifies, Danny falls sick with the flu. Roosevelt’s
death is followed by Reuven’s fever, and David Malter’s and Reb
Saunders’s illnesses. Then the terrible revelation of the concentration
camps is followed by David Malter’s heart attack. Although the historical
tragedies do not directly cause the characters’ illnesses, Potok
links historical events to plot developments to demonstrate that
World War II is not merely a backdrop for the novel, but an integral
force in its characters’ lives.
Following the news of President Roosevelt’s death, Reuven directly
states one of the novel’s themes for the first time. He makes a
connection between Roosevelt’s death and Billy’s blindness, saying
that both events are “senseless” and “empty of meaning.” Later in
the chapter, the discovery of the concentration camps exponentially
amplifies this feeling that the world is full of senseless suffering.
The news of the Holocaust leads Reuven—as well as all other Jews—to
question faith and religion.
Each of the novel’s characters reacts differently to
the challenge the Holocaust poses to believing in an all-knowing,
ever-present God. Upon learning of the concentration camps, both
David Malter and Reb Saunders weep for the loss of millions of European
Jews. However, Reb Saunders accepts the Holocaust as God’s will
and, according to a strict and conservative interpretation of Jewish
tradition, feels that Jews must wait for the Messiah to come to
lead them to the Promised Land. Mr. Malter, on the other hand, argues
that Jews cannot wait for God any longer; they must rebuild Jewry
in America and found a Jewish state in Palestine. Although both
men are deeply and profoundly pained by the mass extermination of
the Jewish people, their political responses are radically different.
Reb Saunders looks to Jewish tradition and its prophecy for comfort, while
David Malter would rather create a new homeland than wait for the
promises of a tradition—a tradition that the horror of the Holocaust
calls into question.
