2,027 words
There’s a scene in the 1981 film adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen in which our protagonists — two Jewish teenagers — run into a gang of young gentile toughs in 1940s New York. The gentile toughs proceed to beat the shit out of the two Jewish kids, all the while spewing anti-Jewish abuse. This scene left a lasting impression on me in my youth. How could people be so hateful and vicious? Why would anyone have a grudge against these kids? And what do they have against Jews anyway? Haven’t they been through enough already? (more…)