The Chosen by Chiam Potok (Short Summary with Main Characters)

The Chosen The story starts out with a fifteen year old, Jewish boy, Reuven Malter, getting ready for a softball game against Danny Saunder's yeshiva team. Tension arises during the game because names are called against the teams. In the final inning, Reuven is pitching. He pitches the ball to Danny and Danny hits a line drive right into Reuven's eye. Glass is shattered everywhere apiece gets stuck in his eye. Reven is rushed to …

…who join him at his table every Shabbat. Reb Saunders is a wise, learned, and deeply religious man who raises Danny in silence, speaking to him only when discussing the Talmud. At the end of the novel, he reveals that he raised Danny in silence in order to teach him to have compassion for others. Reb Saunders is fervently committed to his strict and limited Hasidic worldview, and imposes his views on everyone around him.