Deep Thoughts from Anatevka

Our family tries to do a community theater production at least once a year.  This year, we've come back to Anatevka for Fiddler on the Roof.  It's our second time here, but with different points of view--Jason is Tevye, and I am Golde.  Russell is the mean Russian Sasha, and Kira and Jessica are beautiful townspeople with big hearts. 

Jason and I have spent hours talking about our characters, their relationships with each other and their daughters, and their dedication to their faith. There was a statement the other night that we shouldn't be like Tevye.  I rankled at the statement. True, we don't want to outright reject our youth who make choices against our own wishes, but I'd like to present the other side of the story, and I'd like to point out the positive side of Tevye's decision.

First of all, Fiddler on the Roof is a play about the line between tradition and covenant, culture and gospel, practical application of our limited understanding and what God really wants us to do and be. Through the course of the play, the line is blurred for Tevye and his family.  First, his oldest daughter arranges her own marriage and begs Tevye to dissolve the agreement he has already made with the town's butcher.  She asks if Tevye's agreement is more important than she is.  Tevye sees that his daughter is more important than an agreement, and he finds a way to let Tzeitel marry the man she loves without compromising his faith or his covenant. There are members of the village who are upset with Tevye, but they get over it.  

His second daughter breaks tradition, not only by arranging her own marriage, but by determining to marry with or without Tevye's permission.  They ask for his blessing, still keeping him in the loop, but they will do things their way.  Hodel and Perchik are still married under a canopy, but without the family's direct involvement. 

Daughter number three crosses the line between tradition and covenant.  She breaks her covenant and marries a Russian soldier in a Catholic church.  Chava knows what this choice means.  She knows that by doing this, she is essentially choosing her romantic relationship over everything her family has taught her.  She knows that she will no longer belong to the community of Anatevka (not just to her family) if she chooses to marry this young man.  She marries him anyway. It begs the question--does Tevye really reject Chava?  

Tevye has an ongoing conversation with God throughout the play. God is his confidant, his friend, and Tevye takes his covenant with God very seriously. In the Sabbath prayer, they pray that their family be kept from the stranger's ways.  It is part of their covenant that they marry within the faith.  Marrying outside of the faith to this covenant people is more serious than marrying outside of the faith in most religions.  I am LDS, and the only thing I can compare it to is asking to have your name removed from the records of the church.  You are removed from the covenant that connects you to the generations before you, and you sever the line that connects the covenant to your children.  This is what Chava does--she removes herself from the covenant community.  Tevye asks God if there is a way around this.  There has been a way around the tradition breaking that occurs with his other two daughters, but there is no way around this one. The other two daughters broke tradition, but this daughter is breaking a covenant. Tevye is forced to choose between his covenant and his daughter.  With tears and sorrow, he chooses his covenant. 

There is a moment when it seems Tevye might be spared from his exile because of Chava. The Russian constable says that he thinks Tevye might be able to stay in Anatevka because of her marriage to a Christian, but Tevye promptly says, "my daughter is dead to us."  He chooses to be exiled with the covenant people.  This is what his dedication to his faith brings him, and he is willing and able to accept it.

Why is it that we teach our youth to blaze their own trails, find their own paths, and exhibit personal strength in pursuit of their dreams and goals, but we expect parents to waffle to their adult children? I admire Tevye. He is committed to his covenant, to his God. He demonstrates the faith and determination that we admire in our youth. Kudos to Tevye for keeping his covenant, and for passing that strength on to his daughters.

Then, there is the relationship between Tevye and Golde.  Oy!