Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories by Sholem Aleichem
Tevye, the caring, unstoppable, Bible-quoting dairyman from Anatevka, who has been immortalized in the works of Sholem Aleichem and in acclaimed and award-winning theatrical and film adaptations, is the most adored of all the characters in contemporary Jewish fiction.
No other Yiddish author enjoyed as much acclaim as Tevye’s originator, Sholem Rabinovich (1859–1916), also known as the “Jewish Mark Twain” and writing under the pseudonym Sholem Aleichem. Here comes Sholem Aleichem’s touching and moving account of Tevye and his daughters, beautifully translated by Hillel Halkin, together with the “Railroad Stories,” twenty-one tales that explore human nature and modernity as seen by men and women travelling by rail from shtetl to shtetl.
Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories by Sholem Aleichem
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Tevye’s quotes are certainly very funny, and readers who are familiar with Yiddish culture will find them to be so. My impression, though, was that of a common person struggling valiantly to survive in a world rife with tragedy and violence, most of it absolutely unfathomable. In the tragic conclusion, Tevye’s son-in-law Motol has passed away, leaving behind a wife and small children for whom Tevye has taken responsibility. He has also been driven from his village by Czarist antisemitism, and the daughter who had married a Gentile has joined him in his wanderings. There is only more agony and no possibility of a better life. I was unable to read the author’s other stories. The humour is too tragically undercut by the terrible realism.
My favourite Yiddish author, Sholem Aleichem, has unquestionably had a profound influence on Jewish culture and way of life. He is the finest Yiddish story author. All of the Tevye stories were collected in one location with the help of Hillel Halkin’s fresh translation. Both the Tevye and the Railroad Stories stories were read and discussed. Having them all together offered us the chance to examine the author’s talent and determine whether these tales still resonated with readers today. Since we are a mixed-religion group with few people who can read the original Yiddish, we may also check if Sholem Aleichem included all of his readers, regardless of their religious affiliations, in the story. Aleichem’s superb words vividly illustrated the settings and the surrounding environment.
