As a Driven Leaf has resonated with generations of readers since it was first published in 1939.
Recently, an article in The Wall Street Journal by Joseph Epstein drew new attention to the historic novel that challenges thoughtful people to this day.
"The novelist Chaim Potok remembered how exhilarated he felt, as an adolescent in an Orthodox yeshiva, to find a book that so powerfully captured his own youthful religious turmoil." writes Epstein, noting that an acquaintance of his own decided to enroll in rabbinical school after reading the novel.
What makes As a Driven Leaf such a powerful novel?
The historical novel revolves around Elisha ben Abuyah, a Jewish apostate, examining his painful and personal conflict between reason and revelation, science and faith. Readers join Elisha as he is put through arduous tests, comes to self-knowledge, and realizes that these represent enduring dilemmas rather than absolute truths.
"The tension that this conflict stirs in a first-class mind in (Steinberg's) novel is compelling, and the incisive portrait of the man caught up in it is what gives 'As a Driven Leaf' it's standing as a masterpiece." Epstein ends.
Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.
When did you first read As a Driven Leaf? In what ways did it affect you?
Didn't read the novel yet? You can get it now on sale for just $9.25 (originally priced at $18)
