My Name is Asher Lev

Consider growing up in a very religious traditional family and at the same time being pulled to an inner struggle that challenges your religion, doing art!  Enter Asher Lev, a young boy about six years old when the story begins and continues through the “critical moment” at age 22.  Asher Lev’s father and mother are Hasids in the Brooklyn, NY community during the 1950s, a time of great consternation and pain for the Jewish people following the tragedies in Europe to the Jews, and continued with Stalin’s reign in Russia.  Asher is drawn to a passion of drawing and painting, which is viewed as “childish” and taking away from his time to contemplate the beliefs and practices of his religion.  Asher’s parents, Aryeh and Rivkeh, are both devout Hasidic Jews who are tremendous community members.  His father works directly for the Rebbe, which means he travels to Russia and Europe establishing yeshivas for young Jewish youth to study, while his mother is a student pursuing further degrees so she can teach.  Asher is not capable of focusing on his studies and becomes an outcast to his peers, and an embarrassment to his parents, especially his father who can’t understand his desire to draw all of the time.  Asher is so compulsive, it does not allow him to sleep and even steals paints from his friend who runs a shop.  The story continues by illustrating the tension between artist and religion.  The Rebbe notes Asher’s brilliance as a young artist and actually connects him with a talented Jewish artist, Jacob Kahn, an older man who is respected by the Rebbe.  Asher sees Jacob daily to hone his skill but is challenged to fight his commitment to his religion as Kahn believes it is not possible to have both “true art” and be true to the religion.  The story unfolds with Asher’s passage through teens to young adult and the on-going struggle to remain faithful and developing his skills.  The struggle also creates rift between he and his father.  Asher’s rise to stardom as an artist continues and the pinnacle moment occurs after he paints a crucifixion scene set in his own apartment with his parents images in the painting…. presented at his coming out show as an artist in NYC!  This is a beautiful story of love, challenging your morals/beliefs, and growing up and away from your parents.  I would highly recommend the story as it helps to confirm what is important in life and how to live with your passions, even though they may destroy those you love.  The writing is engaging throughout.  I couldn’t put it down.