My Name Is Asher Lev

My Name Is Asher Lev Summary | Plot Summary

At the beginning of the novel Asher Lev introduces himself as "the Asher Lev," the observant Jew who has become famous for painting two crucifixions. Christians view his paintings, known together as the Brooklyn Crucifixion, as a betrayal by Asher's fellow Jews and a mockery of Christianity. My Name Is Asher Lev traces Asher's life up to his mid-twenties. Asher is artistic from childhood. His mother, Rivkeh, serves as both playmate and model for his drawings. Whenever she feels sad, Rivkeh encourages him to draw "pretty things." Asher's talent is first noticed by his Uncle Yitzchok and a store clerk named Yudel Krinsky, who is a refugee from Siberia. Aryeh, Asher's father, discourages Asher's art, saying that drawing is a foolish waste of time. When Asher is six, his mother is injured in a car accident while traveling to Detroit in service of the Rebbe. Asher's Uncle Yaakov dies in the accident. Yaakov had been studying history and Russian affairs in order to serve as an advisor to the government on behalf of the Rebbe. Aryeh, who has also served the Rebbe as a traveler, gets transferred to a desk job so he can be near his suffering wife. He spends his days making phone calls on behalf of Jews being persecuted in Europe and Russia. When Rivkeh starts to feel stronger, she takes up her brother's course of study at Brooklyn College and Aryeh returns to travel. Persuaded by his father that art comes from the Other Side, young Asher stops drawing when he begins primary school at the Ladover yeshiva. However, after the death of Stalin when Asher is ten, Asher unconsciously begins to sketch Stalin in his coffin. Like the rest of the Hasidic community, Asher has spent years worrying about the fate of Russian Jews under Stalin. Now Asher feels consumed by his need to create art. As he continues to draw, he notices that his vision changes and he begins to see light and shapes with the eyes of a great artist. His parents worry because they don't know whether Asher's talent comes from God or from the Other Side. The Rebbe decides to send Asher's father to Vienna on a mission to spread Hasidism by opening yeshivos throughout Europe. As Rivkeh and Aryeh prepare to move overseas, Asher refuses to leave his home and the street that he sketches every day. Meanwhile, he continues to draw obsessively. Asher even visits forbidden art museums and steals painting supplies from Yudel Krinsky's stationery store. Rivkeh takes Asher to doctors and a psychologist, but they find nothing wrong with him. The Rebbe, concerned for Asher's well being and not sure that his talent should be dismissed, orders Rivkeh to remain in Brooklyn and care for Asher while Aryeh goes to Europe. Rivkeh graduates from college and begins working toward a master's degree in Russian affairs. With Aryeh overseas, she begins encouraging Asher's art with resignation. To keep him from stealing, Rivkeh buys Asher his own painting supplies, and she takes him to visit museums. Rivkeh explains to Asher that the nude paintings and Christian iconography they see are not suitable forms for a Jew's eyes. Asher dedicates himself to art and performs poorly in his school subjects. Aryeh criticizes Asher for earning low grades. The mashpia (a school official), Mrs. Rackover (the Levs' housekeeper), Uncle Yitzchok and Yudel Krinsky all remind Asher that he needs to study. When Asher's father visits Brooklyn he yells at Rivkeh for encouraging Asher's art. Asher makes an effort to improve his grades but Aryeh does not mention it, causing Asher to resent his father more than ever. Rivkeh begins working on a doctorate and spends a summer with Aryeh in Vienna. Asher stays with Uncle Yitzchok, who is accepting of his art and allows Asher to paint freely. When Asher is thirteen, the Rebbe arranges for him to meet Jacob Kahn, a famous artist whose parents were Hasids. Jacob has turned away from Judaism but reveres the Rebbe. Asher begins painting with Jacob at his Manhattan studio once a week. Jacob encourages Asher to study Christianity in order to fully appreciate Western art. In spite of the Rebbe's acceptance of Asher's gift, Aryeh continues to resent his son's art.

The Ladovers occasionally lose track of Aryeh as he travels in Europe, especially in Russia. Asher's mother worries about her husband and feels guilty that she cannot be with him. Likewise, Rivkeh grows frantic whenever Asher returns home late from a museum. He often gets so focused on the artworks that he loses track of time. When Rivkeh earns her doctorate, the Rebbe orders her to join Areyh in Europe. Asher can either choose to travel with his parents or to stay in Brooklyn with Uncle Yitzcok.

Under Jacob's guidance, Asher grows as an artist. Asher begins to paint nudes based on a beautiful young model Jacob hires for him. When a classmate taunts Asher about his art, Jacob encourages Asher to retaliate with unflattering portraits. With his parents away in Europe, Asher spends the summer near the beach on Cape Cod with Jacob and his wife. This first separation from religious Jews tests Asher's faith, as he now must choose for himself to prepare his own kosher meals and fast for Jewish holidays. Asher finds that he feels even more comfortable saying his morning prayers alone at the edge of the ocean than he did when he prayed with his family in Brooklyn.

Asher begins to feel self-conscious about his payos - that is, curly hair locks worn on either side of the face as an outward sign of devotion to God. He begins to wear his hair locks tucked behind his ears. Jacob worries that this is a sign Asher will not remain true to himself, and he lectures Asher about the danger of becoming an "artistic whore." During their first summer together, Jacob falls into a state of depression when he thinks about all the sculptures he lost when the Nazis invaded Paris.

Asher begins high school at the Yeshiva. His classes include a French language course selected for him by the Rebbe. Uncle Yitzchok creates a painting studio for Asher in the attic of his house. Jacob begins appearing at Ladover events, and on one occasion the two artists share a special moment while dancing with the Torah. Jacob sculpts the moment and refuses to sell the beloved sculpture. Asher's mother asks Asher to move to Vienna, but he knows that his father would try to squelch his art there.

Asher spends two more summers on Cape Cod and visits his parents during the third summer. He does not stay in Europe long, however, because he is consumed by a strange sickness that clears almost as soon as he lands in New York. Asher graduates from high school and enrolls at Brooklyn College. The Rebbe orders him to study Russian. The Rebbe feels that the Russians may one day welcome Asher as an artist, enabling him to spread the Hasidic cause. Anna stages Asher's first gallery exhibition, and it is a moderate success. He sells even more works in his second and third shows.

The Levs return from Europe after successfully completing their mission to open many yeshivos throughout Europe. Aryeh seems more self-confident and takes a small interest in Asher's art. Asher disappoints his parents by spending his summer in Cape Cod with Jacob instead of in the Berkshires with them. By the end of the summer, Asher has cut off his earlocks, but his father does not protest this change because Asher has kept the other outward signs of Hasidism.

Asher graduates from college and travels to Italy at Jacob's urging. There he sees the yeshivos that his father established and meets many people whose lives have been blessed by Aryeh's work. In Paris Asher meets a girl that he will likely marry, but he refuses to tell the reader anything about her. In Florence Asher encounters moving art representing Jesus's crucifixion and begins sketching these images. After getting over his initial shame at creating Christian-looking art, Asher begins altering the images to reflect his own life. He reflects upon the legacy of his great-great-grandfather and realizes that the work his parents do to spread Hasidism and the work he does in art are attempts to atone for his ancestor's guilt in some way. This realization leads Asher to create two stunning crucifixions that depict his mother as a suffering Christ figure with Asher below her on one side of the cross and his father below her on the other.

After a year and a half abroad, Asher returns to Brooklyn for an exhibition of his work. In synagogue Asher is greeted warmly by the Ladover community, and he begins to worry that his upcoming show will hurt the people he loves. With the promise that this show will feature no nudes, Asher's parents agree to see one of Asher's exhibitions for the first time. He cannot bring himself to warn them about the crucifixions, but Rivkeh senses that something is wrong.

When the Levs are faced with Asher's crucifixions, they storm out of the gallery in pain and rage. The show becomes controversial and receives a great deal of publicity. Now when he goes to synagogue, Asher's fellow Hasids shun him. Sensitive to Rivkeh and Aryeh's pain, the Rebbe orders Asher to leave Brooklyn, and he heads off to return to the Paris yeshiva. In spite of his parents' sadness, Asher is proud to have become a real artist who deals with truth using personal forms in his art.