#tevye

Chaim Topol (September 9, 1935 – March 8, 2023)

don't get me wrong, tevye's traditions are deeply patriarchal and his daughters are right to challenge them. and i'm also not like in favor of disowning your daughter for marrying a christian, obviously. but comparing tevye to a modern day conservative completely misses the point of why he's so attached to these traditions in the first place. he's a jew living in the pale of settlement under tzarist rule in the early 20th century. he, his family and his entire community are at constant threat of antisemitic violence. in the show itself, their town is attacked in a pogrom and they are ultimately forced to leave their homes, becoming refugees as a result of the tzarist ethnic cleansing of the jews. my point is, tevye is not attached to his traditions and faith just because. he is trying to preserve his jewishness in the face of constant threat.

it's also important to understand that when chava marries fyedka, she's not just marrying someone outside of the faith, she's specifically marrying a russian man, one of their oppressors, and in so doing, converting to christianity. tevye is so protective of his traditions because they are under attack. and not in like a bullshit war on christmas way, like they're actually under attack. for chava to turn her back on those traditions is a genuine betrayal, even if she doesn't fully realize that when she does it. and again, that doesn't mean i think it's okay and fine that he disowns her, i just think that when people compare it to like, a conservative parent disowning a child for being gay, they're ignoring some pretty crucial context and flattening the situation into something it's not.