Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholem Aleichem
The most famous characters in Jewish fiction are Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son. Tevye, a charming and Bible-quoting father of seven daughters, is a contemporary Job whose insight, wit, and fortitude served as an inspiration for the main character of Fiddler on the Roof. And Motl, the energetic and mischievous nine-year-old boy who travels with his family from their Russian shtetl to New York, captures with remarkable insight the struggles, hopes, and victories of Jewish immigrants to America at the turn of the 20th century in his comical, poignant, and clear-eyed observations.
Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor's Son by Sholem Aleichem
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Sholem Aleichem, one of the three creators of Yiddish literature in the 19th century, was born in Ukraine in 1855. He is without a doubt the greatest Jewish comedian. He is exceptional in his capacity to capture the lives of the millions of Jews who resided in the shtetls—the tiny towns and villages—in Eastern Europe. He is best remembered for penning the tale that served as the inspiration for Fiddler on the Roof, but he also created a number of other memorable characters that served as archetypes for various aspects of Jewish life at the time.
It’s amazing to see the humour and artistry of Shalom Aleichem! For anybody and everyone interested in the history of Eastern European Jewry, he is a must-read.
Tevye is a struggling Jewish dairy farmer who uses straightforward yet moving words to tell Sholem about his family. He has to marry off his six or seven daughters from his relationship with Golde because, as you are aware, as they get older, they tend to choose mates who are less and less suitable, making Teyve appear helpless to influence circumstances and especially as a pogrom draws near. The sorrowful story develops with Teyve’s perspective on life and God and the Jewish faith taking centre stage. The story is strikingly similar to the musical but substantially describes how he came to own a farm and a herd of cows, and more critically, how he came to have a fourth daughter in addition to Chava. This book is terrific as a novel on its own terms because of the beautiful feeling of empathy you receive for Tevye’s situation despite the distinctions and parallels.
