Developing an Appreciation for Tevye the Dairyman by Rachel K. Fischer
The first thing that children remember Tevye the Dairyman for is “Fiddler on the Roof”. For some, it is their only exposure to Sholom Aleichem’s writing. However, Jewish children are still raised on his writing today. Many themes pervade all of Sholom Aleichem’s writing, including Tevye the Dairyman, which children and adults can learn from. The stories document Orthodox Jewish life, traditions, and customs in the European shtetls that have since disappeared due to pogroms and the Holocaust.
On one level, Tevye the Dairyman is about the dynamics of orthodox family relationships. The wife and the husband, and the parents and children have their roles to play. The family works together to make a living, while struggling with poverty. The daughters need to find husbands, but do not want to follow the traditional custom of arranged marriages because this is like a sale of property.
On another level, the daughters’ challenge of orthodoxy is an important story line. These story lines, document the struggle that occurred when modern ideas clash with Orthodox ones. Tevye did not always handle this struggle well, like when he excommunicated one of his daughters for marrying a Christian.
Then at the core of the story, is Tevye’s response to his struggles. It is the psychological aspect of the story, as well as, the philosophical lessons of Judaism. Tevye is a scholar who loves to quote Jewish prayers and texts in Hebrew. Sholom Aleichem adds a humorous element to Tevye’s character, by providing an amusing, interpretive translation, instead of the exact translation to the phrase. Despite Tevye’s comical side, he is a somewhat tragic figure. He fits the mold of the archetype of the one that wrestles with God. While he attempts to continue to adhere to his faith and follows Orthodox customs, he questions God as if he has a personal relationship with it, and wonders why God made him poor and others rich, and why did the pogroms occur. Tevye appears very angry at God for his experiences, and his children’s decisions, yet he still maintains his religious devotion and hopes to find an answer for his problems.
It is these elements of Sholom Aleichem’s writing that made him such a popular Jewish writer during his life. Jews want to read about their own culture and religion, because it is empowering for them. Tevye’s family members and friends are characters that they can identify with. With this recognition children can learn something about them selves, and their family by looking in the mirror. It helps children to process conflict and understand the cross section where orthodoxy and modernity meet. Children understand what it is like to be poor, too. These universal elements, such as a desire to be wealthy, struggling for individuality from one’s parents, and struggling with prejudice, have made Tevye the Dairyman and “Fiddler on the Roof” timeless classics.
Today Jews and non-Jews, alike, read this work and see the musical for a glimpse of the past. I am attracted to Sholom Aleichem’s work, because it reminds me of my own ancestors. The daughter, Khave, was a lot like my own great-grandmother that fell in love with a Christian, but was forced to marry her cousin instead. As I child, I read every juvenile book that I could on the pogroms and the Holocaust that Jews had to experience during the early 20th century. I read these works, because I wanted to learn everything that I could about the experiences of my ancestors.
From reading the newspaper articles that deem Sholom Aleichem the “Yiddish Mark Twain”, one can see that he was quite popular and well loved during his time period. It is difficult to imagine anyone giving him bad reviews, except that they did. He was criticized for political reasons and personal taste.
Anna Halberstam-Rubin remarked, in Sholom Aleichem: the Writer as Social Historian, that it was difficult for Sholom Aleichem to publish some of his work because of how critical he was of the government. Additionally, certain Jews, like Israel Levi wanted to shun the use of Yiddish and felt that Yiddish was worthless in quality, and harmful to Jewish tradition and values. Sol Gittleman provided an account of the revues of Sholom Aleichem’s Yiddish theater performances in the United States in his book titled Sholom Aleichem. The Orthodox reviewers gave him a warm reception. They could obviously identify with the Orthodox characters more than less religious and secular Jews could. The socialist Jews felt that the plays lacked reality. Der Forverts was the harshest critic. These reviews caused the productions to fail at the box office.
For secular and socialist Jews, it can be difficult to accept the Orthodox lifestyle. So one can understand that they would criticize Sholom Aleichem’s works during his own life, because they would not want people to read and support anything related to this cultural group, in the same way that liberals do not support conservative groups today.
Does Tevye the Dairyman lack reality? Of course it lacks some reality. It is not a fantasy, but it is an exaggeration of the truth. Sholom Aleichem was known for being a satirical and humorous writer. Humorous individuals and comical stories do not occur constantly in real life, but it is a fantasy-like convention to draw people into the story and make them laugh for fun.
In 1920, I.L. Bril wrote an announcement that Knopf would be publishing a collection of Sholom Aleichem’s stories in English. He doubted that this work could attract an English audience because “Tevye der Milchiger”… is so peculiar that it is exotic to the English reading mind.” Those that did not understand the quality and value of Sholom Aleichem’s writing, did not have an appreciation for his writing style, in the same way that someone may not like to read fantasy. It is just these critics’ personality and biases that come through in their reviews. Someone who is not Jewish may by turned away from Tevye the Dairyman for the Jewish prayers and text in Hebrew, but would still enjoy “Fiddler on the Roof”, because it has been adapted in a way that is accessible to a universal audience.
Despite the negative reviews for political or personal reasons, Sholom Aleichem’s writing will continue to be loved by many. “Fiddler on the Roof” has made Tevye the Dairyman famous around the world. This work is valuable for children to read for historical and cultural reasons. Some of the themes that it presents are universal ones that anyone can relate to.
Bibliography
Bril, I. L. (1920, August 18). The library table. Jewish Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Gittleman, S. (1974). Sholom Aleichem. The Hague: Mouton.
Halberstam-Rubin, A. (1989). Sholom Aleichem: the writer as social historian. New York: Peter Lang.
Author Biography
Rachel K. Fischer has a Masters degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in River Forest, IL. The website was created for an assignment for a class on the history of children's literature. She has been published in Library Journal, Reference and User Services Quarterly, and Public Library Quarterly.
On one level, Tevye the Dairyman is about the dynamics of orthodox family relationships. The wife and the husband, and the parents and children have their roles to play. The family works together to make a living, while struggling with poverty. The daughters need to find husbands, but do not want to follow the traditional custom of arranged marriages because this is like a sale of property.
On another level, the daughters’ challenge of orthodoxy is an important story line. These story lines, document the struggle that occurred when modern ideas clash with Orthodox ones. Tevye did not always handle this struggle well, like when he excommunicated one of his daughters for marrying a Christian.
Then at the core of the story, is Tevye’s response to his struggles. It is the psychological aspect of the story, as well as, the philosophical lessons of Judaism. Tevye is a scholar who loves to quote Jewish prayers and texts in Hebrew. Sholom Aleichem adds a humorous element to Tevye’s character, by providing an amusing, interpretive translation, instead of the exact translation to the phrase. Despite Tevye’s comical side, he is a somewhat tragic figure. He fits the mold of the archetype of the one that wrestles with God. While he attempts to continue to adhere to his faith and follows Orthodox customs, he questions God as if he has a personal relationship with it, and wonders why God made him poor and others rich, and why did the pogroms occur. Tevye appears very angry at God for his experiences, and his children’s decisions, yet he still maintains his religious devotion and hopes to find an answer for his problems.
It is these elements of Sholom Aleichem’s writing that made him such a popular Jewish writer during his life. Jews want to read about their own culture and religion, because it is empowering for them. Tevye’s family members and friends are characters that they can identify with. With this recognition children can learn something about them selves, and their family by looking in the mirror. It helps children to process conflict and understand the cross section where orthodoxy and modernity meet. Children understand what it is like to be poor, too. These universal elements, such as a desire to be wealthy, struggling for individuality from one’s parents, and struggling with prejudice, have made Tevye the Dairyman and “Fiddler on the Roof” timeless classics.
Today Jews and non-Jews, alike, read this work and see the musical for a glimpse of the past. I am attracted to Sholom Aleichem’s work, because it reminds me of my own ancestors. The daughter, Khave, was a lot like my own great-grandmother that fell in love with a Christian, but was forced to marry her cousin instead. As I child, I read every juvenile book that I could on the pogroms and the Holocaust that Jews had to experience during the early 20th century. I read these works, because I wanted to learn everything that I could about the experiences of my ancestors.
From reading the newspaper articles that deem Sholom Aleichem the “Yiddish Mark Twain”, one can see that he was quite popular and well loved during his time period. It is difficult to imagine anyone giving him bad reviews, except that they did. He was criticized for political reasons and personal taste.
Anna Halberstam-Rubin remarked, in Sholom Aleichem: the Writer as Social Historian, that it was difficult for Sholom Aleichem to publish some of his work because of how critical he was of the government. Additionally, certain Jews, like Israel Levi wanted to shun the use of Yiddish and felt that Yiddish was worthless in quality, and harmful to Jewish tradition and values. Sol Gittleman provided an account of the revues of Sholom Aleichem’s Yiddish theater performances in the United States in his book titled Sholom Aleichem. The Orthodox reviewers gave him a warm reception. They could obviously identify with the Orthodox characters more than less religious and secular Jews could. The socialist Jews felt that the plays lacked reality. Der Forverts was the harshest critic. These reviews caused the productions to fail at the box office.
For secular and socialist Jews, it can be difficult to accept the Orthodox lifestyle. So one can understand that they would criticize Sholom Aleichem’s works during his own life, because they would not want people to read and support anything related to this cultural group, in the same way that liberals do not support conservative groups today.
Does Tevye the Dairyman lack reality? Of course it lacks some reality. It is not a fantasy, but it is an exaggeration of the truth. Sholom Aleichem was known for being a satirical and humorous writer. Humorous individuals and comical stories do not occur constantly in real life, but it is a fantasy-like convention to draw people into the story and make them laugh for fun.
In 1920, I.L. Bril wrote an announcement that Knopf would be publishing a collection of Sholom Aleichem’s stories in English. He doubted that this work could attract an English audience because “Tevye der Milchiger”… is so peculiar that it is exotic to the English reading mind.” Those that did not understand the quality and value of Sholom Aleichem’s writing, did not have an appreciation for his writing style, in the same way that someone may not like to read fantasy. It is just these critics’ personality and biases that come through in their reviews. Someone who is not Jewish may by turned away from Tevye the Dairyman for the Jewish prayers and text in Hebrew, but would still enjoy “Fiddler on the Roof”, because it has been adapted in a way that is accessible to a universal audience.
Despite the negative reviews for political or personal reasons, Sholom Aleichem’s writing will continue to be loved by many. “Fiddler on the Roof” has made Tevye the Dairyman famous around the world. This work is valuable for children to read for historical and cultural reasons. Some of the themes that it presents are universal ones that anyone can relate to.
Bibliography
Bril, I. L. (1920, August 18). The library table. Jewish Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Gittleman, S. (1974). Sholom Aleichem. The Hague: Mouton.
Halberstam-Rubin, A. (1989). Sholom Aleichem: the writer as social historian. New York: Peter Lang.
Author Biography
Rachel K. Fischer has a Masters degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in River Forest, IL. The website was created for an assignment for a class on the history of children's literature. She has been published in Library Journal, Reference and User Services Quarterly, and Public Library Quarterly.