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Yeshiva
A chumash is a Torah in printed book form, as opposed to a scroll—thus, it’s what Asher and his classmates would study in yeshiva. The word derives from the Hebrew term for “five,” referring to the five books of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).
Chumash Quotes in My Name is Asher Lev
The My Name is Asher Lev quotes below are all either spoken by Chumash or refer to Chumash. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5
Quotes
I looked into my Chumash. I stared at the face staring back out at me from the page. I had slanted the eyes somewhat and given the lips beneath the beard a sardonic turn. The Rebbe looked evil; the Rebbe looked threatening; the Rebbe looking out at me from the Chumash seemed about to hurt me. That was the expression he would wear when he decided to hurt me. That was the expression he had worn when he had told my father to go to Vienna. I looked at the framed photograph of the Rebbe on the front wall near the blackboard. The eyes were gray and clear; the face was kind. Only the ordinary dark hat was the same in both pictures. I was frightened at the picture I had drawn. I was especially frightened that I could not remember having drawn it.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire My Name is Asher Lev LitChart as a printable PDF.
Chumash Term Timeline in My Name is Asher Lev
The timeline below shows where the term Chumash appears in My Name is Asher Lev. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...if he knows where Vienna is. Asher doesn’t know. Aryeh says, “Geography you don’t know. Chumash and Rashi you don’t know […] Sometimes I wonder whose son you are, Asher.”
(full context)
Chapter 4
...bloated, distorted, disfigured. When Aryeh sees the piles of drawings, he says, “You can’t study Chumash, but this you have time for.” Asher just keeps drawing. For the first time, he...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...there are murmurs and stares. Then, a pimply-faced boy shouts in horror, “You defiled a Chumash!” Asher realizes he has drawn a face on his Chumash. It’s a drawing of the...
(full context)
...Yudel Krinsky’s store and asks him questions about oil paints. He tells Yudel about the Chumash drawing. Yudel looks horrified. Asher wonders how he could have done such a thing, when...
(full context)
