The Shtetl Jew: Relic or Role Model?
 | 
Question:
I thought of you last week as I watched Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye's beard and black coat reminded me a little of you. I have to say, it did make me feel that
religious Jews are like walking antiques, out of touch with modern reality. If Tevye's Judaism is anything to go by, don't you think it's time for an updated version?
Answer:
Imagine if two hundred years from now, your great-great-great-great grandchildren are researching what life was like in the year 2007. Looking
through the family archives, they excitedly discover a relic from that era--an old episode of
The Simpsons. They eagerly watch it, confident that they will learn what a typical family looked like at the beginning of the 21st century.
What do you think? Will they get an accurate picture of you based on The Simpsons?
Of course not. The Simpsons is a satire, not a documentary. It is comedy, not history. We who live today can appreciate its humor, its exaggerated characters with inverted roles, its know-it-all kids and fumblingly stupid adults. But a century or two from now, life will have changed and humor will have changed; the irony may be lost on future generations who watch The Simpsons. They may take it seriously, as a historical account of family life of its time. This would of course be ridiculous - a comedy will have become history, and jokes will have become facts.
But that's exactly what has happened with Fiddler on the Roof. This musical is based on a series of short stories called Tevye the Milkman, written by the 19th century Yiddish humorist, Sholom Aleichem. Himself a secularist, Sholom Aleichem was ridiculing what he saw as the backward and outdated traditions of
Judaism. He depicts Jewish life as a dusty museum of archaic rituals and stubborn traditions without rationale. Tevye is presented as a sincere but
uncultured man, stubborn in his views and blind in his faith, whose values and beliefs can't compete in the modern world.
Fiddler on the Roof is quaint and entertaining. But it is satire, not history. Tevye the milkman is no more a representation of a typical observant Jew as Homer Simpson is of a typical modern father. Yet for many people today, both Jewish and not, Fiddler is their only exposure to observant Jews, and they take it as an accurate depiction of Jewish religious life.
The truth is very different to the caricature presented in Fiddler. Judaism has survived because of its ability to speak to each generation in its own language, to present powerful answers to the questions faced by every new era, and to reinvent itself in every time and place without watering down its original content. What Sholom Aleichem would never have dreamed is that while his Yiddish secular culture is all but gone, the traditions of Judaism are alive and well. More and more Jews today are recognizing that the ancient wisdom and spiritual practices of Judaism are more relevant now than ever.
We are Jewish today because our great-grandparents had the unswerving faith of Tevye. Our great-grandchildren will be Jewish if we have the vision to communicate that faith to ourselves and our children in a dynamic and modern voice. Even The Simpsons will one day be relegated to history, but our tradition
will live on.
| |
|
Latest Comments:
He had on the dark hat and long black jacket, etc. His brother, the rabbi, asked, "WHY DO YOU ASSUME HE'S A RABBI?" I answered, "Because of the clothes". He said, "We wear these clothes because our ancestors did." I wanted to joke and say, "Maybe it's time to get them washed", but I didn't. I think he felt I was being prejudiced. But, I do think that the appearances of the men (and some of the women) who hold to those dress code standards (and hair/beard, etc), do set themselves up as targets for hate crimes by wanting to be SO very diverse. I also believe it is a way of excluding others who do not dress in that fashion. So, for people who want to continue the Shtetl Jewish ways and traditions, yes, I think that they need to conform a bit more. After all, we no longer ride camels, etc. We live in a more modern age, and I think even the Orthodox Jews need to bend a little and stop being so very inflexible.
|
Something that helps me in life...ON THE ONE HAND, BUT on the OTHER HAND. It helps to judge a situation in the two ways when making a decision. This was a tremendous and VERY applicable film to real life. In fact, my own grandparents had a VERY SIMILAR experience. They came from a Polish community on the border of Russia. They faced the same anti-semetism. They were pious and followed tradition. In fact, when I asked them questions, their answer was always, "Because...it's TRADITION. We do it because we do it. We've always done it. This is the WAY." Why do we do things a certain way? Because we're Jews and that's the ONLY way Jews do. My grandparents were loving, caring, nurturing people, but I couldn't say very in tune with modern life. They survived, but ONLY fit in with the synagogue and Orthodox community. I can't see my grandfather, however, disowning his daughter if she would have intermarried, but I don't know. He's dead. My grandpa was not a caricature. He was real. !!
|
I understand what you are saying, but I completely disagree with you. Not all Jews look alike or act alike (what a poor boring world this would be!). But from the first moment of seeing the film "Fiddler" and seeing the play, I related to the "Jewishness" of it. Not the characterization, but the soul of it. You will notice that Tevye let go of some of his "traditions", but not the law concerning interfaith marriage. Tevye was living for his time, as we are living for ours. Was he involved in studying Torah day in and day out? No. He was not a Rabbi. He was a poor hard-working man, who had to work long difficult hours, barely making it home in time for Shabbos. How can you call this man 'silly?' That is so disrespectful. He spoke with G-d all day,every day. He had a very close personal relationship with G-d and was a deep believer. I think your heart is hard and your criticism is unfounded. Tevye may not have been Einstein, but that is not a sin. He was a good Jew.
|
Teyve is a caricature which mocks the old-fashioned people in the shtetl. Can you imagine Teyve as a Latvik.... or as a Sfardi.... a Tamani... he does not look at all like my grandfather. He is not the "typical observant jew of 200 years ago"- He is a fool. He keeps doing certaing strange-looking things because... "tradition!!!" not because it is the Torah of truth. He is a simpleton which, if someone like that ever existed, we would be taught to be respectful to him because of his weak mind, but surely not to take him as an example. If there is something which all jews have in common, from the cobbler to the banker to the diamondcutter to the peasant (yes there existed Jewish peasants) to the MD to the salesman, from the shtetl to London to ZA to usa, it is the study (of Torah, and in their free time, for relax, of secular subjects). Does Tevye looks like he studies Talmud daily, as he is obligated to do? if he doesn't, can he be called observant? if he does, how comes he is so silly?
|
As every story written by you, it is right.
Thank you
|
Dear Mr. Moss - you short change Shalom Aleiichem . He created a sympathetic character not a satiric one. What has made Fiddler on the Roof so successful around the world is the universal conflict between tradition and change - a conflict that even the most orthodox among us have to deal with. I cetainly wouldn't want future generations to compare me to the Simpsons-but Tevye is another story.........
|
i do not see how you can call the characters who peopled "Fiddler..." negative stereotypes. That would be in your mind, in your eyes, in your head. I did not find anything ugly or saterical about these individuals. The music was beautiful. The actors played the characters with great feeling and respect. If you are ashamed of what you are seeing, then you are a Jew (if you are) who is ashamed of your own culture. We are Jews. We sing. We dance. We pray. We talk to G-d. We have our own way of dressing and talking. Those of us who are orthodox have our own way of behaving. To show it is not to make fun of it, but to acknowledge it. I have always found the characters in this play/movie to be beautiful. But that is how I see Judaism. As something beautiful.
|
You are right, good article. My mother was born in a Shtetl and though she did not say much I had a chance to get some stories from my granmother, Not sure how off the mark was Sholom Aleihem, but I do treasure my roots...I am educated, so are my children...the Shtetl mind started me off and so on but, they had a sweet soul, without the education. My granddad lived off a Singer sowing machine. So did my mother...what a mench!
Thank you for your article, it brought me some wonderful memories and a certain pride as well.
|
One day, in the USA, I had occasion to insert in the VCR the Fiddler on the Roof cassettes. I was shocked and so were other non-jewish friends of mine who watched it. To me it is to Jews and Jewish culture (let us put aside all religious connotations for now) no different than "Uncle Tom's cabin" is to African Americans. Yes I am confident the writers of the musical and the movie never had any antisemitic intent, in fact many of them were Jews; but, in the years sensitivity changes (and thankfully it improves), in the same way that "negro" was not necessarily derogatory fifty years ago and was used by the African-American community themselves, and it is totally unacceptable now (even though we all are capable of putting into context historical material that was written or spoken decades ago). I don't understand how the Jewish community in the USA (and I am not just referring to the observant Jews) can find certain stereotypes acceptable, or worse - funny. Regardless of observance level.
|
I don't agree with this article. If you carefully inspect the content of this play, you will see that Tevye and his wife hold fast to their Jewish 'traditions". The fact that they allow their eldest daughtesr to select their own husbands instead of through a matchmaker reflects not a violation of Torah's laws, but acknowledgement of women's freedom of choice. He did not give permission for his youngest to marry out of the faith. They lit Shabbos candles and practiced Shabbos law. He spoke to G-d all day long. He is not a characature, but a symbol of today's Jews who are faced with moral challenges and how they make their decisions. I believe "Fiddler" is a much more important piece of work/art/theater than you give it credit for. It touches my heart every time I see it. Don't degrade it --- please!
|
|
|  |
|
|
Showing 24 - 38 of 40
|
|
|
LOGIN
ASK THE RABBI
21 Comments
