Sholem Aleichem

Between the years of 1894 and 1913, a well-known Jewish author, who wrote under the pen name Sholem Aleichem, wrote eight short stories about a lovable dairyman named Tevye and his daughters. The Tevye short stories, compiled in Tevye der Milkhiker, are written in long monologues, as if Tevye is telling them directly to Sholem Alecheim, who has written them down verbatim. “If I’m going to tell you the whole story,” Tevye says in Tevye Strikes It Rich, “it’s worth hearing from beginning to end. If you don’t mind, then, I’ll sit myself down here beside you and let my horse chew on some grass” (3). The heartwarming and heartbreaking stories were well-loved by Sholem Aleichem’s Jewish audience as a reflection of their own lives. About sixty years later, Bock, Harnick, and Stein would take inspiration from four of the eight Tevye short stories to write Fiddler on the Roof.

Sholem Aleichem, 1907 (Wikimedia)

Biography

Yiddish author Sholem Rabinowitz, living in the Russian Empire, wrote under the pen name Sholem Aleichem, a Jewish greeting meaning “peace be upon you.” Sholem Aleichem wrote dozens of short stories and novels, and even moved to New York in 1906 to try his hand at playwriting. In 1907, two of his plays, Stempenyu and Shmuel Pasternak oder Der Oysvurf premiered on the same night in NYC. Both closed within a few weeks. Disheartened, Sholem Aleichem moved with his family back to Europe and wrote the sixth and most tragic Tevye story, "Shprintze." Two years later, he wrote "Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel," which he intended to be the final story of the series – he even published Tevye der Milkhiker, which included all of the Tevye stories in one volume. But in March 1911, a Ukrainian boy was found murdered, and the Russian right-wing movement cast blame on the Jewish community, saying that the boy was murdered by Jewish people as a ritual sacrifice. Local Jewish clerk Menachem Mendel Beilis was accused and arrested as a scapegoat. Sholem Aleichem became obsessed with Beilis’s case and ultimate trial, writing as a response the novel The Bloody Hoax, in which a Gentile man posing as a Jewish man is accused of blood libel. Beilis was at last acquitted, but following his trial, new edicts continued to oppress the Jewish people. In response to these edicts, Sholem Aleichem decided in 1913 to write a new ending in which Tevye and his family are kicked out of their home. He published “Lekh Lekho” (“Get Thee Out”). Shortly after writing this story, Sholem Aleichem and his family were forced flee to America as war broken out in Europe. Sholem Aleichem died two years later at the age of 57. His funeral was attended by thousands.

Sholem-Aleichem-35-Kiev-1889-Studio-portrait-with-Olga-and-their-first-three-children-Tiss

Sholem Aleichem & family, 1889 (YIVO)

Sholem Aleichem’s funeral procession, May 15, 1916 (Yiddish Book Center)

Major Differences Between Tevye der Milkhiker and Fiddler on the Roof

In Fiddler on the Roof, the timeline is extremely shortened – the action takes place in the course of about a year and a half. Sholem Aleichem wrote his Tevye stories over several decades, and they take place over several decades. Tevye is an old man by "Land of Israel" and "Lekh Lekho." The pogrom in which Tevye is forced to leave does not happen until Tevye is nearly seventy, and both Golde and Motl have died.
Tevye and his family do not live in Anatevka, but somewhere between Boiberik and Yehupetz. They are the only Jewish people in their village. Anatevka is mentioned as “a couple miles away” and is the town where Layzer Wolf lives (36).
The character of Yente is not included in the short stories. There is a male matchmaker named Efrayim who is mentioned in "Hodl" and "Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel."
In "Hodl" and "Chava", Tevye says he has seven daughters. In "Shprintze", Tevye mentions a daughter named Teibl.
After they are told to get out in "Lekh Lekho", Tevye plans to leave with Tsaytl and her children to join his youngest daughter Beilke and her husband in America. Chava rejoins the family and leaves with them.

Sholem Aleichem at his writing desk, Saint Petersburg, 1904 (YIVO)

Short Story Breakdown

Tevye Strikes it Rich - Summary

Tevye sits down to tell Sholem Alecheim a story with the moral: “as long as a Jew lives and breathes in this world and hasn’t more than one leg in the grave, he mustn’t lose faith” (3). “Nine or ten years” ago, Tevye is in extreme poverty, his wife and young daughters going hungry (3). He works dragging logs from the forest to the train station. One late summer night, while taking a load of logs through the forest, Tevye’s horse gets loose. While chasing him, Tevye comes across two women who ask him directions to Boiberik. They have a summer place there and got lost in the woods. Tevye, somewhat reluctantly, agrees to take them in his wagon back to Boiberik. Out of gratitude for the safe return of the women, the wealthy family in Boiberik invites Tevye to dinner and offer to pay him. Tevye shamefully asks for three rubles, believing he is asking for far too much, but the wealthy family laughs and pays him far more than what he asked for, and gives him a cow. Tevye returns to his family with food and money, and his wife, Golde, is overwhelmed with joy. They decide to use the money to invest in another milk cow in order to begin a dairy business.

This story was not directly used by Bock, Harnick, and Stein for Fiddler on the Roof, however, Tevye is a dairyman in the musical.

Tevye Blows a Small Fortune - Summary

Tevye again runs into Sholem Alecheim and tells him how after he became relatively wealthy, everyone suddenly wanted to be his friend and pitch him business ideas. One day after dropping off a shipment of cheese in Yehupetz, he runs across Golde’s third cousin, Menachem Mendl, and invites him to his house. After talking most of the night, Mendl tells Tevye about his investment plan, which he promises will make them both wealthy. Though a little hesistant at first, Tevye agrees to give Mendl the money to invest. When weeks pass and Mendl does not return with the return on the investment, Tevye goes to Yehupetz to find him. Mendl has lost all the money, and Tevye threatens him and rages at him before finally forgiving him. He tells Sholem Alecheim, matter-of-factly, that though he still dreams of becoming rich, he is happy enough being a dairyman.

This story was not directly used by Bock, Harnick, and Stein for Fiddler on the Roof. However, there is a scene where Tevye imagines he is as wealthy as the people he sees in Yehupetz. “I imagined ourselves living...in a huge house with a real tin roof...my wife Golde...so high-and-mighty with her pearls and double chin...And the airs she put on, and the way she swore at the servants...while geese, chickens, and ducks cackled in the yard...and (Tevye) surrounded by the most prominent Jews in Yehupetz, all begging for his attention” (29). This dialogue is put nearly verbatim into “If I Were a Rich Man.”

Today's Children - Summary

After being swindled by Menachem Mendl, Tevye is in a terrible mood. One day, Golde tells him that Layzer Wolf, the butcher in Anatevka, wants to speak to him. Tevye assumes that Layzer wants to buy his cow but reluctantly agrees to meet with him. There is a misunderstanding between the two of them as Tevye thinks Layzer is talking about purchasing his cow when Layzer is actually trying to marry Tevye’s daughter Tsaytl. After a night of drinking and arguing, Tevye finally agrees. Golde is delighted with the arrangement, but Tsaytl comes to Tevye sobbing and begging not to be married. Tevye immediately relents. Motl the tailor comes to Tevye and tells him he wishes to marry Tsaytl, as they had made a pledge to each other. Though shocked by this, Tevye agrees. In order to convince Golde about the new arrangment, he pretends to have a dream in which Golde’s grandmother tells him that Motl is meant to be Tsaytl’s husband, and Layzer Wolf’s first wife Frume Soreh threatens to kill him and Tsaytl. Golde agrees, and Motl and Tsaytl are married and are overjoyed to be together.

This story was taken and used in the musical, including many almost verbatim quotations.

Similarities:

Golde “bullies” Tevye into going to see Layzer Wolf.
Misunderstanding with selling the cow
Layzer Wolf is wealthy
Tevye has an inner monologue about whether or not to arrange the marriage with Layzer Wolf.
“You should be ashamed of yourself! My Tsaytl is not for sale to the highest bidder” (39).

Tsaytl throws herself at Tevye’s feet weeping and begging not to be married to Layzer Wolf, offering to “get down on my knees and scrub floors” (45).
Motl uses tailor puns to discuss marrying Tsaytl.
Motl and Tsaytl pledged to marry each other a year previously but has been saving up to buy a sewing machine. This revelation shocks Tevye.
Tevye fakes the dream about Frume Soreh and Grandmother Tsaytl to convince Golde to agree to Motl and Tsaytl’s match.
“How can you let your daughter take over my house, sit in my chairs, carry my keys...wear my pearls?” (51).

After marrying, Tsaytl and Motl are very poor but deliriously happy together.

Differences:

Golde has no idea that Layzer Wolf wants to arrange the marriage.
Layzer Wolf and Tevye argue through the night about the marriage, getting increasingly drunk. The next day, Tevye goes into town and celebrates with some of the townspeople (no Russians are mentioned.)
Tevye immediately agrees not to marry Tsaytl to Layzer Wolf when she starts crying, without even knowing about Motl.

Tsaytl is not present during Motl’s conversation with Tevye.
The wedding scene is not described at all, nor are any of Tsaytl’s one-on-one interactions with Motl.

Hodl - Summary

It has been several years since Tevye has talked to Sholem Alecheim, and he has “grown suddenly gray” (53). He meets a politically-minded student, Pertchik, who he nicknames Peppercorn. Tevye invites Peppercorn for dinner and he soon becomes involved with Tevye’s daughter Hodl. They get engaged without a matchmaker, which shocks Tevye, but he agrees and they are quickly married before Peppercorn leaves to do his political work. A while later, Hodl receives a message that Peppercorn has been arrested and is being sent to Siberia. She tells her family that she must go be with him, and a heartbroken Tevye drops her off at the train station.

This story was taken and used in the musical.

Similarities:

Hodl is described as Tevye’s most beautiful daughter and has “the brains to go with (her looks” (54).
Tevye likes that Pertchik is a student and invites him for dinner.
Pertchik and Hodl get engaged of their own volition without a matchmaker, which shocks Tevye.

Tevye soothes Golde with a lie about Pertchik having a wealthy relative.
Pertchik ends up in prison and is sent to Siberia.
Tevye is heartbroken when he says goodbye to Hodl at the train station.

Differences:

Hodl is described as a voracious reader.

Pertchik is given the nickname “Peppercorn”, and Tevye refers to him as that throughout the story.
Tevye knows Pertchik/Peppercorn’s father, the cigarette maker.
The scene where Pertchik talks to the men in the village is not included.
Efrayim the matchmaker tries to set up Hodl with someone.
Hodl and Pertchik/Peppercorn are married quickly before he leaves, but Hodl stays behind and Peppercorn goes with some of his politically-minded friends.

Chava - Summary

Tevye catches Sholem Alecheim up on the happenings in his family. Tsaytl and Motl have several children, and Hodl is waiting in Siberia for Pertchik/Peppercorn to be freed. One day, Tevye finds Chvedka (Fyedka), a Gentile scribe, talking with his daughter Chava. Chava says that Chvedka is her friend and a good man, but Tevye warns her to stay away from him. Chava insists that under God, they are all equal. A few days later, the priest meets Tevye on the street and informs him that Chava is in his custody and is going to be married to Chvedka. Shocked, Tevye returns home, where Golde and his daughters are weeping. Golde insists that Tevye go speak to the priest, so he goes and begs the priest to let him see Chava. The priest refuses. Tevye returns to his family and tells them they must pretend Chava never existed. Some time later, Tevye runs into Chava in the forest. Though he desperately wants to embrace her, he forces himself to ignore her, even when she begs him to listen to her. After abandoning her in the woods, Tevye is plagued with deep guilt and sorrow, and cannot stop thinking about Chava. He puts on his best clothes and decides to go visit Chava and Chvedka at their home, but changes his mind.

This story was taken and used in the musical.

Similarities:

Tevye warns Chava to stay away from Chvedka and remain with her own people, but Chava insists that everyone is equal under God.
Golde knows before Tevye that Chava is going to be married to Chvedka.
Tevye insists that they treat Chava like she is dead or never existed.
Tevye, mourning Chava, describes her as a “little bird” and calls her “Chaveleh”. He cannot stop thinking about her and is in deep grief.

Differences:

Chvedka is a scribe, not a soldier, and Chava compares him to the author Gorky.
The priest plays a much larger role – he is the one who tells Tevye that Chava is marrying Chvedka.
At Golde’s insistence, Tevye goes to the priest and begs him to see Chava, but the priest refuses.
Chava meets Tevye in the woods and he ignores her. He does not tell the rest of the family about seeing her.
Tevye almost goes to visit Chava and Chvedka.

Shprintze - Summary

It has been a while since Tevye has seen Sholem Alecheim, and he mentions the hardships the Jewish people have been through in the past few years, including pogroms in some nearby cities. Tevye is almost sixty now, and tells Sholem Alecheim that the next story about his daughter Shprintze is more tragic than anything he has been through. Tevye befriends a wealthy widow and her son Ahronchik, who are spending the summer in Boiberik. Tevye invites Ahronchik to his home for the Feast of Weeks to try some of Golde’s famous blintzes. Ahronchik quickly falls in love with Shprintze, continuing to visit her daily, and some time later, asks Tevye if he can marry her. Tevye talks with Shprintze about this, and she also wants to marry Ahronchik, who she calls Arnold. Tevye is excited that his daughter will be married to a millionaire. Ahronchik does not visit for several days, and Tevye goes to Boiberik to see him, but finds that he and the widow are gone. Ahronchik’s uncle is there, and tells Tevye that a low-class family such as his could never be allowed to be united in marriage with their wealthy family, and therefore Ahronchik has left. Tevye is left deeply shamed and humiliated, and Shprintze “flickered out like a candle...keeping it all to herself except for a sigh now and then – but such a sigh...as could break a heart of iron” (96). One day Tevye is driving by the river and sees a crowd of people. Golde and his two daughters Beilke and Teibl come running towards Tevye, screaming. Shprintze has drowned herself. Tevye asks Sholem Alecheim if he knows why people drown with their eyes open.

This story was not directly used by Bock, Harnick, and Stein for Fiddler on the Roof. It was considered briefly, but the writers ultimately decided it was too tragic for the musical they were creating.

Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel - Summary

Tevye updates Sholem Alecheim on his life. Golde has died, leaving Tevye a widower. His youngest child, Beilke, has been taking care of him. One day, Tevye meets Efrayim the Matchmaker, who offers to set him up with a widow. Tevye refuses and asks him to find a match for Beilke. Efrayim sets Beilke up with a wealthy builder named Podhotzur. He showers Beilke with gifts, but both she and Tevye cannot stand him. But Beilke decides to marry him anyway to ensure that she and Tevye have a comfortable life. After their honeymoon, Tevye is asked to Podhotzur’s house, where he has dinner with Podhotzur and a Beilke who he barely recognizes as his daughter anymore. After dinner, Podhotzur takes Tevye aside and tells him that given his reputation and position, he cannot “afford to have a cheesemonger for a father in law” (108). He asks Tevye to either get a different job, and offers to pay for him to go to America. When Tevye refuses, Podhotzur offers to send him to Palestine, and Tevye reluctantly agrees. Podhotzer informs Beilke that Tevye will be leaving, and she sobs, feeling that it is her fault. Tevye is angry at Podhotzer, but Beilke assures him he is not such a bad man, and is even trying to get Hodl and Pertchik out of Siberia. Tevye sells his belongings, including his horse, and bids farewell to Sholem Aleichem.

This story was not directly used by Bock, Harnick, and Stein for Fiddler on the Roof. Sholem Alecheim intended this to be the final Tevye story, but after he saw the impact of pogroms, decided to write one more.

Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel - Summary

Tevye, now almost seventy, meets Sholem Alecheim again and tells him that when he was about to leave for Israel, Motl dies. Tevye decides to stay with Tsaytl and her children to help support them. Beilke’s husband Podhotzur has lost all of his money, and he and Beilke have gone to America, where they work in a sweatshop. Tevye explains that he is now in the chapter of “Lekh-Lekho”, meaning “get thee out.” Though Tevye was aware of pogroms happening around him, he never worried about it because he was the only Jewish person in his community and was on very good terms with his Christian neighbors. One day when Tevye comes home from work, the Christian villagers are waiting in his yard. Ivan Paparilo informs Tevye that the village council has decided to have a pogrom, because if anyone passing through sees that they haven’t had one, they could be in trouble. Ivan tells Tevye that he should smash his own windows and then they have tea together. However, the trouble isn’t over. The village policeman comes by and tells Tevye he must sell his house and leave the village, order of the provincial governor. Tevye argues that his ancestors have always lived here, which does not sway the officer. Finally, Tevye tells Tsaytl that they will be leaving and going to America to join Beilke and Podhotzur. Tevye sells his house to Ivan Paparilo, and before he leaves, sits on the floor and cries. Tsaytl tells Tevye that they should take Chava with them. Tevye is enraged and again says Chava is dead, but Tsaytl argues with him and finally tells him that Chava is there waiting to leave with them, having decided she cannot abandon her family. Chava enters and holds out her hands to her father, who finally accepts her again. Tevye tells Sholem Aleichem he must get going, as his grandchildren are waiting, and says goodbye.

Similarities:

Tevye is given three days to sell his house and leave.
The officer insists that it’s not his doing, but the order of a higher authority.
Tevye and family are presumably leaving for America.

Differences:

This event takes place many years later. Golde and Motl have died.
Tevye and Tsaytl’s family are the only Jewish people in the village.
The villagers tell Tevye they’ve decided to have a pogrom before the officer orders it.
Chava decides to leave with her family and is accepted back by them. She has presumably left Chvedka.

Sources

Aleichem, Sholem. Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories. Translated by Hillel Halkin. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1987.

Solomon, Alisa. Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2013.