Darkness and Sunlight - by Heather Tiller

“The world jumped into focus and everything looked suddenly bright and fresh and clean…and there was newness everywhere, a feeling that I had been away a long time in a dark place and was now returning home to sunlight.” (The Chosen, 95)

When I first read this passage, I was struck by it. I know the feeling Reuven is speaking of, that wonderful clarity that comes from putting on a pair of glasses after an extended time without them. It is an incredible relief to be able to say, “Oh, now I can see!” Reuven's experience holds the deeper meaning of symbolism and foreshadowing as his life takes off in an unprecedented direction.

At this point in the novel, Reuven’s life has turned a crucial corner and will never again be what it was. He may not know exactly what the future holds, but there is a definite sense of hope as he describes his house and neighborhood as if seeing them for the first time. The “dark place” he felt he had been in before is symbolic of his life before Danny’s friendship; now that he is beginning to understand more about this remarkable boy and the Hasidic way of life, his life is filled with the “sunlight” of knowledge, love, and friendship.

But where there is light, there are usually shadows.
Even though Reuven is seeing the world anew and has such bright prospects for the future, there remain shadows of uncertainty that threaten to undermine his friendship with Danny. The largest shadow is Danny's father, Rabbi Saunders. Will he accept his son's friendship with an "apikorsim"?

The second area of darkness the boys must face is the ridicule they may suffer from their acquaintances who do not understand how the two - coming from such different worlds - could be friends. No matter what path Reuven decides to go down, he now has a clearer of knowledge of the world because of his new friendship that will prove more valuable than he could have dreamed.

As Esther said last week, it is all about perspective. Who knows what my happen to cause our vision of the world to change? Be concsious of this as you continue to read and live and prepare for the future.