My Name Is Asher Lev

The struggle to find one's identity is a universal theme that is especially prevalent in Chaim Potok's novel, My Name Is Asher Lev. As an Orthodox Jew, Asher's gift for art is looked upon very unfavorably. Despite the disapproval of his community and father and the pain his art causes those around him, he pursues his passion and must find a way to reconcile the conflict between his religious identity and his individual identity.

Potok starts off with the main character delivering three short sentences that set up the basis for the entire book. Before the reader learns anything about Asher Lev or the plot of the story they are confronted with the following statement:

I am an observant Jew. Yes, of course, observant Jews do not paint crucifixions. As a matter of fact, observant Jews do not paint at all - in the way that I am painting. (Potok 3)

These three sentences are the foundation on which Potok builds his entire novel. Without understanding why the Orthodox Jewish community disapproves art, Potok's novel would have no basis. Deuteronomy 5:8 states that:

Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth.

Although art is not expressly forbidden, Orthodox Jews have "a longstanding abhorrence of anything that even smacks of idolatry" (Megilligan n.p.), and art is viewed by Orthodox Jews as "essentially the heritage and property of pagan (Greek and Roman) and Christian culture -- unsuitable by definition for the Jew" (Stern 3141). Therefore, to become an artist, one would have to renounce Hebrew iconoclasm, "the Jewish custom forbidding any formal representation of living things" (Marchesseau 20-21). Throughout the novel, Asher strives to keep a balance between his art and his religion, but ultimately ends up isolating himself from his community.

Himself an artist, Potok draws on personal experience for the writing of his novel. He also uses the life of Marc Chagall (another Jewish artist) as a reference for his protagonist. As in the case of Asher Lev, Potok's painting was acceptable when he a child, but once he reached the age of thirteen (his bar mitzvah), his father was very much opposed, saying painting was idolatrous. But unlike Lev, Potok says he "shifted the hunger to create from images on canvas to words on paper" (Kouvar n.p.). His writing was much more tolerable because it did not violate the Torah. It is only after his literary art became widely published that Potok took up painting once again. The life of Chagall is similar to that of Asher Lev in that his mother supported him as much as she could, and, like Asher, he went to study with a Jewish artist. Chagall ultimately renounced Hebrew iconoclasm, and, while he remained loyal to his Jewish heritage, he "became religious in the broadest sense of the word, rejecting all forms of dogma and embracing, in an abstract Judeo-Christian faith, a divine and merciful universal eternity" (Marchesseau 21,22). But the most important aspect Potok draws from his and Chagall's lives is a crucifixion painting. For Asher, it is such a painting that leads to his exile from the community he grew up in.

Asher's mother, Rivkeh, is perhaps one of the most important characters in the novel. Over and over she sacrifices her own happiness for that of her husband and child, and each of them cause her great suffering. Her husband, Aryeh, travels a lot as a representative for the Rebbe (spiritual leader of the community) to the government and other communities around the United States. Rivkeh worries a great deal about his safety, especially after her brother is killed in a car accident traveling for the Rebbe. His death causes her to sink into a deep depression, and she is only able to rise out of her depression when she goes to school in order to be able to carry on his work. A scene during this period of depression illustrates how she feels about Asher's art. Asher shows her a drawing his father. She asks him if it is pretty and he tells her it is not. She then tells him he "should make the world pretty" (Potok 28). Asher responds, "It's not pretty. I won't draw it pretty" (28). Although Rivkeh tries her best to be supportive of her son, sometimes even against her husbands will, she is never able to understand realism in art. Already enduring worry over her husbands frequent absences and stress over the constant battle between father and son, her capacity for suffering must be stretched even further when her husband gets the chance to go to Europe to set up yeshivas (Jewish rabbinic academies of higher learning (Jewish n.p.)) for survivors of the Holocaust. Asher refuses to move to Europe because it would interfere with his art so Rivkeh agrees to remain in America with her son. When Asher is older, her worries are increased when he goes to Europe to further his studies in art. For most of his youth, Asher seems incredibly selfish, seemingly unconcerned with the sacrifices those around him are making for his sake, but his crucifixion painting reveals that he has indeed noticed the great suffering of his mother and is, in his own way, paying her tribute.

While Asher's mother suffers a great deal on behalf of her husband, perhaps it is his father who suffers the most, even though his suffering is not as easy to recognize. In Jewish culture, "it is the task of the fathers to pass on the Jewish heritage to their obedient sons…the stress put on the authority of the father parallels a similar stress in traditional, patriarchal Judaism on God as…Father" (Buning n.p.). It is quite clear the Aryeh loves his son very much, but because Asher does not devote himself to traditional Jewish studies he feels he is not a good Jewish father. Because Asher's love is for art, he feels even worse because art is frowned upon. When the Rebbe appoints Asher to study with artist Jakob Kahn, an unorthodox Jew, Aryeh's role as father is partially transferred to his son's teacher, who he feels is dragging Asher away from Orthodox Judaism. When he finally accepts that his son is to become an artist, Aryeh has one final plea. Greatly saddened he questions the will of God, then says, "Do not forget your people, Asher. That is all I ask of you" (Potok 234). Kahn warns Asher that he is "entering a religion called painting" (213) and even admits that, "it is a tradition of goyim and pagans. Its values are goyisch and pagan. Its concepts are goyisch and pagan. Its way of life is goyisch and pagan" (213). He encourages Asher to maintain his realistic approach to art but warns him that his art will bring