Some Spiritual Thoughts about The Fiddler on the Roof (Part 2)
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The idea that Tevya loves some things more than God is explored in the last song of the film, Anatevka, and the name of the village where they live. They sing about what they are losing: “A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a pot, a pan, a broom, a hat” – material possessions. The song also mourns the loss of relationships with their community. Anatevka was their home, but it was just a place. As the movie ends, all of Tevya’s people depart the village for other destinations. Even Tevya’s three older daughters separate from him. Finally, it is just Tevya, his wife, their younger children, and their cart, but who joins him in the end? The fiddler.
The fiddler appears in the beginning of the movie during Tevya’s opening song about tradition, but he doesn’t show up again until the night of Lazar’s betrothal to Tzeitel and news of the coming pogrom. After that, he appears right before the wedding and the persecution by the Russian authorities. Finally, he is on the road with Tevya at the end of the movie walking behind him as he pushes his cart. The fiddler never talks; he just plays a happy tune and watches. Why is he there? One line from the song L’Chaim fits: “God would like us to be joyful even when our hearts lie panting on the floor.”
One could say, as Tevya does frequently, that God is responsible for all the misfortune that comes His way. Yente the matchmaker agreed when she said, “I tell you, if God lived on earth, people would break his windows.” One could also say that while God allows misfortune and is present when it occurs, that He never abandons His child, that misfortune brings people back to Him, and that ultimately God works to redeem them from the idols in their life (Romans 8:28). In the end, Tevya is no longer encumbered with material possessions, worries of His daughters’ futures, and the love of a worldly home, and for this He sees God more clearly. The fiddler isn’t on the roof anymore; He’s walking on the same level, and Tevya beckons him to come along.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley