#tevye

[tilbageidanmark]

Sofie Rose Seymour's poster for an all-Yiddish community production of 'Fiddler on the roof' in Philadelphia

[scottstiles]

Dear God, did you have to send me news like that, today of all days? I know, I know we are The Chosen People, but once in awhile, can't you choose someone else?

[gay-jewish-bucky]

the heart of 'if i were a rich man' boiling down to tevye yearning to be able to dedicate himself to prayer and studying the holy books with other jews is such a cross generational jewish experience

[musicalfilm]

Chaim Topol (September 9, 1935 – March 8, 2023)

May his memory be a blessing.

[comradesummers]

i HATE when people compare tevye from fiddler on the roof to like their trump supporting dad who has to be shown the error of his ways. not only is that just a really stupid reading of a musical that pretty much states its themes out loud for you constantly, it's also kind of antisemitic.

don't get me wrong, tevye's traditions are deeply patriarchal and his daughters are right to challenge them. and i'm also not like in favor of disowning your daughter for marrying a christian, obviously. but comparing tevye to a modern day conservative completely misses the point of why he's so attached to these traditions in the first place. he's a jew living in the pale of settlement under tzarist rule in the early 20th century. he, his family and his entire community are at constant threat of antisemitic violence. in the show itself, their town is attacked in a pogrom and they are ultimately forced to leave their homes, becoming refugees as a result of the tzarist ethnic cleansing of the jews. my point is, tevye is not attached to his traditions and faith just because. he is trying to preserve his jewishness in the face of constant threat.

it's also important to understand that when chava marries fyedka, she's not just marrying someone outside of the faith, she's specifically marrying a russian man, one of their oppressors, and in so doing, converting to christianity. tevye is so protective of his traditions because they are under attack. and not in like a bullshit war on christmas way, like they're actually under attack. for chava to turn her back on those traditions is a genuine betrayal, even if she doesn't fully realize that when she does it. and again, that doesn't mean i think it's okay and fine that he disowns her, i just think that when people compare it to like, a conservative parent disowning a child for being gay, they're ignoring some pretty crucial context and flattening the situation into something it's not.

fiddler has always been really popular with a lot of non-jewish communities and i get why. it is very much a story about a parent having to learn to put aside his deeply held beliefs and traditions for the sake of his children who have different values than he does. and it is also a story about challenging the patriarchal role of the father specifically. i understand why people from all sorts of traditional communities and upbringings relate to it, and i think that's great. but with that said, fiddler is also a specific story about jews living a very precarious existence in turn-of-the-century russia. so it really does bother me when people dismiss that context and how it shapes tevye's perspective and actions, because they're so caught up in seeing the story as a parallel to their own lives.

[bonsoir-oiseau]

[blahh613]

robby and tevye have certain similarities in their love for their children and unwillingness to bend and the way they cling to their g-d, if they believe or not, bc they have to in the face of what they deal with and have nothing else to hold on to, and yet despite all this they fail their children in certain ways and send them away (frank and chava) instead of giving them the help they need and in this essay I will discuss the Jewish man and his child and how the relationship with said children and tradition differ yet stay the same as time passes-

[beardedmrbean]

Tradition? Tradition is garbage! CRUNCH! I'll add it to the heap! This is my Game. And I only allow two things. Flawless calculations… and beauty!

Tevye begs to differ