Fiddler on the Roof

Don't ask me when I get time to watch whole movies. But this one deserves to be a priority. Here are the things I like about Tevye.

I love the way Tevye speaks with God right out loud, in conversation.

Upon hearing of their eviction, one man says they should fight back, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!" And Tevye, though he is a man of the Good Book responds with, "very good, then the whole world will be blind and toothless."

As the town reconciles itself to leaving Anatevka, a townsman says that the Jews have been uprooted many times in history. Tevye says, "perhaps that's why we always wear our hats!"

At the very final moment, the enigmatic fiddler follows Tevye and his wife and their two remaining daughters. Tevye stops, puzzled to find the fiddler still there amidst their muddy grief. Surely they carry all the heaviness, regret, and insecurity of any displaced people. The fiddler looks back, as if to ask permission to follow after them. And Tevye nods. He has not done with life yet. He will not give up. The fiddler may follow.

At the outset, Tevye tells us that their fragile lives are balanced on tradition just like the fiddler is balanced on the rooftop. But Tevye shows throughout the movie that his life is not just balanced on tradition. His life is also balanced with humor, love, patience, kindness, an appreciation for life (l'chaim!), and faith in God.