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July 31, 2019

“The Stories Are Interesting, but the Character Is a Hundred Times More Interesting”: Discovering Tevye the Dairyman

A simple protagonist and a very, very complicated people.

Undoubtedly the best-known figure in all of Yiddish literature—if not in all of Jewish fiction—is Tevye the Dairyman. A creation of Sholem Aleichem, Tevye is a simple Jew whose personal travails serve as a commentary on the Russian Jewish experience. Even before he was reborn as the protagonist of Fiddler on Roof, Tevye was beloved by thousands of readers.

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July 31, 2019

  1. A Former British Diplomat’s Guide to Misunderstanding Iran

    Jack Straw’s many errors are overshadowed by his poor prescriptions.

  2. How the Publisher of the “Guardian” Helped Bring About the Balfour Declaration

    At one time, the newspaper expressed something other than revulsion toward the Jewish national movement.

  3. While Waving the Flag of Academic Freedom, Israel-Boycotters Favor One of That Flag’s Champion Besmirchers

    BDS Turkey?

  4. “The Stories Are Interesting, but the Character Is a Hundred Times More Interesting”: Discovering Tevye the Dairyman

    A simple protagonist and a very, very complicated people.

  5. Hilde Zadek: Soprano, Proud Jew, and Zionist

    She punched a fellow student who said that Jews stink.