Art: Chaim Potok's "Brooklyn Crucifixion"

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

The late Jewish writer Chaim Potok (1929-2002) is probably best known for his novels, many of which explore the struggle to reconcile religion and modernity. Potok was raised as an Orthodox Jew and was ordained as a Rabbi. In his lifetime, he wrote nine novels, three children's books, and numerous stories, plays, and articles.

Potok is arguably best known for his novel, The Chosen, which was made into a film and a Broadway play. My Name is Asher Lev, which Potok called his most autobiographical novel, is the struggle of a gifted artist torn between his art and his orthodox traditions that reject art. In the front of this book is a quotation from Picasso: "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth."

Potok was an accomplished painter, in addition to being a writer and a Rabbi. In a fascinating intersection between art and life, Potok himself created "Brooklyn Crucifixion," a painting central to the heartrending climax of My Name is Asher Lev. "Brooklyn Crucifixion" (shown at left) hung in Potok's home. (Click on thumbnail to view larger image.)

And in case you haven't read the compelling story that is My Name is Asher Lev, here's how it begins:

My name is Asher Lev, the Asher Lev, about whom you have read in newspapers and magazines, about whom you talk so much at your dinner affairs and cocktail parties, the notorious and legendary Lev of the Brooklyn Crucifix.

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. So strong words are being written and spoken about me, myths are being generated: I am a traitor, an apostate, a self-hater, an inflictor of shame upon my family, my friends, my people; also, I am a mocker of ideas sacred to Christians, a blasphemous manipulator of modes and forms revered by Gentiles for two thousand years.

Well, I am none of those things. And yet, in all honesty, I confess that my accusers are not altogether wrong: I am indeed, in some way, all of those things.

Potok asserted that the conflict between tradition and modernity is constant and that the tension between religion and art is lifelong. His personal struggle seems apparent in "Brooklyn Crucifixion." And yet despite this seemingly agonizing struggle, Potok remained active as an artist/writer and engaged in the religion of his upbringing until his death in 2002.

Links:

Chaim Potok web site (hosted by La Sierra University and created by the late Dr. William Allen)
Wikipedia: Chaim Potok
Amazon.com: My Name is Asher Lev
Random House: Books by Chaim Potok

Comments

[Evan]

I loved My Name Is Asher Lev. It was a great story.

[Zane]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. When I first read it, I thought it was a true story and tried to look for "Brooklyn Crucifixion." I can't believe it actually exits!

[Daneen Akers]

Thanks for highlighting such a great, powerful, and profound book Sharon. I remember when Chaim Potak came to speak at PUC for a Longo Lecture during my senior year--it's still a memory I treasure. At that time, he mentioned that Adventists have often deeply identified with his books because they too know what it is like to be raised in a culture that considers itself separate and apart from the mainstream.

I had heard that Potak painted this picture. Thanks for sharing it.

[mom2twoboys]

I had no idea there was a real painting by this name. I remember the book well--thank-you for sharing the background. (somehow I missed this along the way--or wasn't on the site yet.)

My husband heard him talk at AU when he was a student. The one thing he really remembered was Potok talking about raising children in the faith. He was a liberal Jew, yet raised his children relatively "in the middle." He drew a circle and said, "If everything inside this circle is Judaism, I'm over here on the left. I want to raise my children in the center so that they have lots of room to go to the left or the right and still be within the faith."

M