Chaim Potok is one of the greatest American Jewish writers of the twentieth century - Henry Roth, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Philip Roth.

Originally from Sárospatak, he himself was born in New York in 1929. He has been writing prose since the age of sixteen, and earned a doctorate in English literature and philosophy. As an ordained Orthodox rabbi, he served as a field chaplain during the Korean War for sixteen months, much of it on the front lines.

He wrote seven novels, as well as the history of the Jewish people in his summary work entitled Vándorlások. His first novel, The Chosen One, was nominated for a National Book Award and, in addition to numerous awards, has sold four million copies worldwide and spent 39 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. The Promise won the Athenaeum Prize, and The Gift of Asher Lev won the National Jewish Book Award.

His literary and educational work has inspired Orthodox and Neolog Jewish and non-Jewish intellectuals for decades.

The chosen one takes place in the strange world of the Hasids of New York, who perpetuate the specific way of life of the Eastern European community, and creates a heart-wrenching and unforgettable memory of two generations of religious Judaism, of a boy fighting with his father and at the same time with himself. The work has been made into a film, musical and play over the years.