Asher Lev introduces himself as “the notorious and legendary Lev of the Brooklyn Crucifixion.” He is also “an observant Jew.” Because Asher’s dual identity has generated gossip and myths, he will now offer a defense of himself.
Asher explains that he is descended from a “mythic ancestor,” the estate manager for a wealthy Russian nobleman. The nobleman had burned a village and killed people during a fit of drunkenness. After that, Asher’s ancestor began to travel, supporting Jewish scholarship and learning everywhere he went. As a child, Asher was taught that non-Jews—people of the sitra achra—behave like the Russian nobleman. Observant Jews, on the other hand, work to “bring the Master of the Universe into the world,” like Asher’s ancestor. Asher’s grandfather, an ingenious scholar, had also traveled as an emissary of the Ladover Rebbe, until he was brutally murdered by a Russian peasant. Unlike any of these ancestors, Asher, born in 1943 in Brooklyn, has a gift for drawing.
When Asher was small, his father, Aryeh, traveled extensively on behalf of the Rebbe. So did Asher’s Uncle Yaakov, older brother of his mother, Rivkeh. One day, when Asher is six, Rivkeh receives news that Yaakov has been killed in a car accident. Rivkeh is “almost destroyed” by Yaakov’s death; for months, she seldom leaves her room, and sometimes Asher hears her talking to Yaakov. Asher spends a lot of this time drawing pictures, which Aryeh feels are a waste of time. Eventually, Rivkeh decides she wants to resume Yaakov’s work. The Rebbe gives permission for her to enroll in college and study Russian affairs.
During his early years at yeshiva, Asher stops drawing. He often hears his father and the yeshiva’s mashpia talking about the persecution of Russian Jews under Stalin. He begins visiting Yudel Krinsky, a Russian Jewish refugee, to hear stories about this persecution and to admire the art supplies in Krinsky’s store. Sometimes, when Asher returns home late from these visits, his frightened mother screams at him in rage. After Stalin dies, the Rebbe asks Aryeh to move to Vienna to work with struggling Russian Jews. Asher, distressed at the possibility of moving, begins drawing again.
As he continues to insist that he can’t move to Vienna with his parents, Asher becomes increasingly absorbed in his drawing. One day, he’s frightened to realize he has drawn a menacing picture of the Rebbe in his Chumash. The mashpia meets with him and appeals to Asher’s sense of responsibility to his fellow Jews—Asher’s gift, he says, is causing him to think only of himself. The following summer, however, the Rebbe and Asher’s parents agree that Asher cannot go to Vienna; Aryeh moves there alone.
Although Rivkeh throws herself into her master’s coursework, she and Asher are unhappy in Aryeh’s absence. Rivkeh buys Asher his first set of oil paints, and he becomes even more absorbed in his art, neglecting his Torah studies. Asher also begins visiting the art museum and copying pictures of Jesus and of nudes. When Aryeh comes home for a visit, he is furious to discover how Asher has been spending his time. He tells Asher that his drawing comes from the “Other Side” and must be resisted. After Aryeh returns to Europe, Asher begins working harder in school, though he doesn’t give up drawing and painting.
Just before his bar mitzvah, Asher meets with the Rebbe. The Rebbe has asked Jacob Kahn, a famous sculptor and non-observant Jew, to mentor Asher. Asher is overjoyed, but Aryeh feels ashamed of the growing distance between himself and his son; he can’t even rejoice at Asher’s bar mitzvah.
A couple of months later, Asher goes to Jacob Kahn’s studio for the first time. He also meets Kahn’s agent, Anna Schaeffer. Jacob Kahn warns Asher that he is about to enter a “goyisch, pagan” way of life. But he agrees to give Asher five years of his time. Asher spends that summer studying with Jacob, including learning to draw nude models.
Rivkeh, now with her doctorate, plans to move to Europe to assist Aryeh in his work, and, despite his protests, Asher is persuaded to move in with his Uncle Yitzchok. After his mother leaves, Asher spends the summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, with Jacob Kahn. He continues praying and keeping kosher during the summer, and he celebrates the Jewish festivals with joy and fervor while working on his art.
When his parents come home for visits, Aryeh continues to be hostile toward Asher’s art, and Rivkeh feels caught between them. Asher enrolls in Brooklyn College and continues attending yeshiva. Asher has a couple of successful exhibitions, and his parents move back to Brooklyn. Critics have begun to say that Asher has surpassed his mentor, and he and Jacob drift apart. Aryeh makes an effort to connect with Asher, asking him questions about artistic concepts. However, he is pleased when Asher decides to spend time traveling in Europe.
In Florence, the works of Michelangelo have a profound effect on Asher. As he travels in Italy and Paris, he meets with some of his father’s Ladover connections and is moved to see the flourishing yeshivos Aryeh has established throughout his career. He decides to settle in Paris for a while. For the first time in years, he begins painting his mythic ancestor and scenes from his Brooklyn neighborhood. He also reflects on his mother’s lifelong anguish, as she felt pulled between himself, Aryeh, and her own fears and desires. He works on two paintings, both of them portraying the Brooklyn apartment window in a way that evokes the crucifixion. In the second painting, he portrays his mother bound to the cruciform shape, her head divided into three segments looking upward and at the figures of himself and his father.
Anna Schaeffer takes Asher’s Brooklyn paintings, including the two crucifixions, back to New York for an upcoming exhibition. A few days before the show, Asher returns to his parents’ apartment. His parents welcome him warmly, and because Asher promises there are no nudes in his paintings, they plan to attend the exhibition. He visits Jacob Kahn for the last time.
In the days before the exhibition, Asher agonizes over the crucifixion paintings, knowing how much these images will hurt his parents. However, he can’t think of a way to warn them of what they’re about to see. At the exhibit, Aryeh and Rivkeh are shocked and horrified by the crucifixions; they immediately leave in silence.
Although most critical reviews are favorable, and most of Asher’s art is sold for high prices, his family and community treat him coldly after the exhibition. Asher tries to explain to his mother that his use of the form of the crucifix was an aesthetic choice without blasphemous intent. She listens, but she cannot understand, nor can she explain it to Aryeh. The Rebbe meets with Asher and tells him that, although he understands what Asher has done, this community cannot accept it—Asher has crossed a line. The Rebbe asks Asher to leave the Brooklyn Ladover community. As Asher walks his beloved Brooklyn streets for a final time, he reflects that his creativity is both “demonic and divine.” The next day, Asher says farewell to his parents before catching a flight to Paris. As his cab drives down the street, he looks back and sees them watching him through the living room window.
