Summary of Fiddler on the Roof
In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, a poor dairyman with five daughters, navigates life as a Jewish man facing the dawn of modernity in the early twentieth century. Tevye is very devout and strictly follows the Jewish faith and the Jewish traditions he has received. However, when his oldest daughter breaks with tradition, Tevye must decide where he is willing to bend, and where he is not.
FiddlerontheRoof
FIDDLERONTHEROOF is one of the most loved American musicals and has enchanted audiences all over the world for 60 years. It has resonated with audiences from all different countries, cultures, and religions, tapping into themes of tradition, family, joy, and tragedy that connect universally with the hearts of people everywhere.
FiddlerontheRoof
Fiddler on the Roof is based on the short stories of SHOLEM
ALEICHEM, a celebrated Yiddish author who was often called the “Yiddish Mark Twain.”
Composer Jerry Bock, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and librettist Joseph Stein adapted the beloved Tevye stories into the musical we know today, originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins.
A massive success, Fiddler on the Roof is one of the most popular musicals of all time. The 1971 film was also widely popular and successful, being nominated and winning multiple Academy Awards, and is well-loved to this day.
The Question: Tradition
What place does tradition have in our lives, families, and religion? When the world around us changes, should our customs and beliefs change with it? Tevye struggles with this question, just as we do.
The balance of tradition in our lives is a difficult one. Sometimes we feel just like a fiddler on the roof, doing the best we can to keep our footing in a world that continues to change around us.
On the one hand, we cannot abandon tradition just for the sake of change, engaging in what C. S. Lewis calls “chronological snobbery.” Instead, as Lewis says, we need to “let the clean, sea breeze of the centuries blow through our minds” to keep us from being a slave to the present. Indeed, tradition is an integral part of the foundation on which our lives and cultures are built. On the other hand, we must never let human traditions become a substitute for God’s truth, and some traditions are inconsistent with God’s truth. We may be of a different faith than Tevye and the villagers of Anatevka, but we are faced with a similar question. How do we honor God and not lose our footing?
This is what Tevye, and we alongside him, must learn: Tradition is a way we honor and serve God. It is vital to our lives and we must uphold it when it follows God’s will and instruction for us. But when it strays from God, we must carefully examine tradition and adapt while keeping our eyes on God.
When? 1905
Setting
Where?
A small village in Russia called Anatevka.
Who?
Ashkenazi Jews - Jews of French, German, and Eastern European descent. The Hebrew word “Ashkenaz” refers to Germany. Most American Jews today are Ashkenazi, as opposed to Sephardic, which are Jews of Spanish, Portuguese, North African, and Middle Eastern descent.
Glossary
Reb
The Yiddish equivalent of “Sir” or “Mr.”
Yiddish the language of Ashkenazi Jews, a melding of German and Hebrew -leh
L’Chaim!
“To Life!”
Mazel Tov!
“Good Fortune!”
The diminutive “leh,” “l,” or “el” is added to the end of Yiddish names as a nickname, similar to the English “y” or “ie.” When Tevye calls Chava “Chavaleh,” he is calling her “Little Chava.”
“At the dawn of the 20th century, the roughly 5 million Jews living in the Russian Empire comprised the largest Jewish community in the world.” - myjewishlearning.com
Historical Context
The Jewish people in Russia experienced general flourishing and were gaining social advances until 1791 when Czar Catherine II implemented a law that forced the Jews in Russia to the western border, in a district called the Pale of Settlement. The Jewish people here lived in small, impoverished towns called SHTETLS.
Historical Context
When Czar Alexander III established the May Laws in 1882, the Jews were forbidden from living outside of the shtetls and forbade them from doing business on Sundays and Christian holidays. These laws further limited the ability for the Jewish people to advance, causing further widespread poverty. Throughout this period, POGROMS occurred—violent attacks on Jewish communities by local residents (sometimes encouraged by the government or police). Because of these conditions, many Jews emigrated or converted to Christianity.
“Between 1881 and 1917, some two million Jews poured out of Russia, about half of whom ended up in New York City.” (myjewishlearning.com)
Jewish Customs
Chanting Syllables
What we might think are “nonsense words” sung by Tevye in “If I Were a Rich Man” are actually syllables made up by lyricist Sheldon Harnick to imitate the sound of Chassidic prayer chanting. Zero Mostel, the original Tevye on Broadway, changed these lyrics to make them more authentic.
Jewish Customs
Head Coverings
Female Head Coverings: A Jewish woman is to cover her hair once she is married in front of any man who is not her husband or a close relative. This symbolizes modesty and privacy in the marriage covenant.
Male Head Coverings: The custom of men covering their heads appeared sometime in 1-500 A.D., and there are no references to it in the Torah. It is a “sign of reverence and respect for God’s presence above.”
(myjewishlearning.com)
Jewish Customs
Prayer Shawls
A TALLIT is a rectangular shawl in which strings are tied in a pattern in the corners. It comes from Numbers 15, in which the Israelites are told to put fringes on their garments with a cord of blue so that they may look at it and recall the commandments.
Jewish Customs
Sabbath Meal
The word Sabbath comes from SHAVAT , meaning “cease,” as the Israelites were commanded by God to cease their work on the seventh day, Saturday. Before sunset on Friday, the woman lights Sabbath candles at home and a blessing is given, after which the family eats the Sabbath meal.
The woman covers her eyes and waves her hands in order to keep the principles that the blessing must precede the performance of the commandment (the MITZVAH). If her eyes are closed, she cannot receive benefit from the candles which have already been lit. There are various interpretations of the waving motion; it does not appear in rabbinic literature and seems to have developed out of an older custom of covering the candles.
Jewish Customs
The Wedding Ceremony
After a pre-wedding ceremony, the veiling ceremony commences, in which the groom covers the bride’s face with a veil, symbolizing Rebecca who covered her face when she met Isaac. The chuppah ceremony comes next, in which the chuppah, a canopy held up on poles, is held over the couple. The canopy symbolizes ”the couple's commitment to establish a home which will always be open to guests, as was the tent of Abraham and Sarah” (chabad.org).
The ceremony is performed over a cup of wine which is blessed by the Rabbi. The bride receives a ring from the groom, the marriage contract is read, blessings are given, and then the groom stomps on a cup, shattering the glass. “The shattering of the glass reminds us that even at the height of personal joy, we must, nevertheless, remember the destruction of Jerusalem, and yearn for our imminent return there” (chabad.org).
The people all shout “MAZEL TOV!”
Bibliography
Alieza Salzberg. “Hair Coverings for Married Women.” My Jewish Learning. My Jewish Learning, September 3, 2009.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hair-coverings-for-married-women/.
Britannica. “Sabbath | Judaism.” In Encyclopædia Britannica, January 17, 2018.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sabbath-Judaism.
Chabad.org. “Jewish Wedding Ceremony & Traditions.” @chabad, February 13, 2007.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/476757/jewish/Jewish-Wedding-Ceremony-Traditions.htm.
. “Tallit: The Jewish Prayer Shawl.” @chabad, July 6, 2007.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/530124/jewish/Tallit-The-Jewish-Prayer-Shawl.htm.
. “Why Do Women Wave Their Hands over the Shabbat Candles?” @chabad, May 13, 2008.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/674406/jewish/Why-Do-Women-Wave-Their-Hands-over-theShabbat-Candles.htm.
Enkin, Ari. “Waving and Covering the Eyes.” OU Torah, June 20, 2017. https://outorah.org/p/35448/.
Fresh Air. “‘Fiddler’ Composer Jerry Bock, 1928-2010.” NPR. Fresh Air, November 5, 2010.
https://www.npr.org/2010/11/05/131092712/fiddler-composer-jerry-bock-1928-2010.
My Jewish Learning. “Tallit (the Prayer Shawl).” My Jewish Learning, n.d. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/tallit-the-prayer-shawl/.
.“The Jews of Russia,” n.d. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-jews-of-russia/.
Bibliography
. “The Meaning behind Different Jewish Hats.” My Jewish Learning, n.d. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/themeaning-behind-of-different-jewish-hats/.
Reform Judaism. “Why Do Jews Wear Head Coverings?,” n.d. https://reformjudaism.org/learning/answers-jewishquestions/why-do-jews-wear-head-coverings.
“Sholem Aleichem | Yiddish Author.” In Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/SholemAleichem.
Solomon, Alisa. Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof. Metropolitan Books, 2013.
Stein, Joseph, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Sholem Aleichem. Fiddler on the Roof. New York: Limelight Editions, 1990.
The Music Theatre International Study Guide for Fiddler on the Roof. Music Theatre International, 1996.
Theater Talk Archive. “Alisa Solomon: A Cultural History of ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’” Youtu.be, 2025. https://youtu.be/VggvGWEBfhs?si=xjUN200cDL_evczZ.
. “Theater Talk - Harvey Fierstein of Fiddler on the Roof.” Youtu.be, 2025. https://youtu.be/YaxvMhTWA68?si=CxnfprS1UdKw-B_.
Welcome to My Magick Theatre. “A Primer on Yiddish Names,” January 27, 2017. https://carrieannebrownian.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/a-primer-on-yiddish-names/. www.jewfaq.org. “Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews - Judaism 101 (JewFAQ),” n.d. https://www.jewfaq.org/ashkenazic_and_sephardic.