Fiddler on the Roof

notes and glossary

• The title Fiddler on the Roof comes from a surrealistic painting by the Russian Jewish painter Marc Chagall’s painting. The fiddler is a metaphor of survival in an uncertain world, through tradition and joyful living. Marc Chagall (1887–1985) was born Moishe Shagall in Belarus, and used the Russian name Марк Заха́рович Шага́л (Mark Zakharovich Shagal). He later emigrated to Paris. He designed the stained glass for many church windows, including the apse in Rheims Cathedral.
• The plot of  Fiddler on the Roof is based on Sholom Aleichem’s stories about Tevye the Dairyman. Sholem Aleichem (Yiddish: שלום־עליכם, Russian and Ukrainian: Шолом-Алейхем) (1859–1916) was the pen name of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, a leading Yiddish author and playwright. He wrote under a pen name, because at the time Yiddish was not considered a literary language: Russian Jews would write in Hebrew or Russian. The name Sholem Aleichem, a Yiddish variant of the Hebrew expression shalom aleichem, meaning peace be with you or, simply, hello.
• Shtetl is a Yiddish word meaning "small village", related to the South German word Städtle, with the same meaning, although the German word Städtchen is more common.
• Anatevka (Анатевка; אַנאַעװקאַ), the shtetl in the story, is called Boyberik (בױבעק) in Sholem Aleichem’s stories, and is based on the actual village of Boyarka (Боярка), located about 20 km SW if Kiev, in Ukraine.
• Yente is a Yiddish word meaning "busybody": the character name is appropriate! (The word is ultimately related to the word "gentle".)

I, 1

• A kopek (copeck or kopeck: Russian, копе́йка, kopeyka) is a Russian coin worth 1/100th of a ruble; Russia was the first country in the world to use decimal divisions of its monetary unit, in 1704.

I, 2

• "Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed."
• Reb is short for Rebbe, Yiddish for Rabbi, but it is also used as a sign of respect for a man of importance, as Tevye imagines himself.
• plague in Odessa

I, 3

• The story of Ruth (Hebrew: רוּת) is told in the Biblical book of the same name. Because of a famine, Naomi (נָעֳמִי) leaves her home in the vicinity of Bethlehem, in the land of Israel, in the days of the Judges, and settles in the land of Moab. Her two sons marry Moabite women, Orpah (עָרְפָּה) and Ruth. After Naomi’s husband dies, and her two sons die, she returns to her homeland. Orpah remains in the land of Moab, but Ruth returns with Naomi. Ruth's words to Naomi are famous: And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. (Ruth 1:16-17) The story tells how Ruth marries Boaz, and becomes an ancestress of King David.
• The story of Esther is told in the Biblical book of the same name. Vashti, Queen of Persia, offends the King, so he looks for a new queen. After auditioning many candidates, the King chooses Esther, a Jewish woman. (According to the Bible, Esther 2:7, the woman Esther [Hebrew: אֶסְתֵּר] was originally named Hadassah [Hebrew: הדסה], meaning myrtle.). She is continually guided by her uncle Mordecai. But the King’s chief  minister, Haman [המן], hates Mordecai, so he plans to annihilate all the Jews in the Persian Empire. Mordecai discovers the plot, and asks Queen Esther to intervene with the King. At the risk of her life, Esther tells the King of Haman’s plot. Haman had set up a tall gallows on which to hang Mordecai, but instead, Haman himself is hanged. This story is commemorated in the feast of Purim.

I, 4

• Vodka (водка) is a distilled alcoholic beverage. The name is from a Slavic word usually understood to mean "little water." In the European Union it must contain a minimum of 37.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), and in the United States, 40% ABV. Vodka is distilled to as much as 95% ethanol, and then diluted. (Whisky, by contrast, is usually distilled to its final strength.) In the Vodka Belt (Northern and Eastern Europe), vodka is usually drunk neat, but in the United States, it is more commonly used in cocktails.
• Schnapps is a distilled alcoholic beverage. In the United States, schnapps is a liqueur, containing 15% to 50% ABV. The German Schnaps, one of several kinds of fruit brandy, containing at least 32% ABV. It is interesting that the Jews seem to prefer to drink schnapps, and the Russians vodka. 
• L’chaim is Hebrew for  "to life!"
• Mazel tov means "congratulations!"; literally, "good luck!"
• The Russian za vasha Zdarovia  (за ваше здоровье!) means "To your health!", a toast.
• Na zdrovia: The famous Russian phrase "Na zda-ró-vye!" (Russian: Hа здоровье!) is actually not a drinking toast at all. It is used as a reply to "Thank you!" when someone thanks someone for a meal or a drink. (From RusslandJournal) So it could be understood as being the equivalent of "You’re welcome!"

I, 5

• pogrom

I, 6

• Jacob (יַעֲקֹב; later known as Israel: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎) and Laban (לֵאָה), Leah (לֵאָה) and Rachel (רחל)
• Daniel (דָּנִיֵּאל)
• Jericho (יְרִיחוֹ), wall
• Moses (מֹשֶׁה‎) soften Pharaoh’s heart
• Red Sea part
• David (דָּוִיד or דוד) and Goliath (גָּלְיָת)

I, 7

• A blessing on your head is an English version of Yiddish A gezunt af dein Kop!, literally, health upon your head, a typical Yiddish blessing.
• Mordecai (Hebrew: מָרְדֳּכַי) is one of the main characters in the Biblical book of Esther.

I, 8

• wedding hat
• Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was one of the most important German poets of the 19th century. He was born into a Jewish family in Düsseldorf, but was baptized a Christian in 1825, and took the name Christian Johann Heinrich Heine. Because of his radical views, he spent his last 25 years in exile in Paris. In 1933, many of his books were burned by the Nazis. But is legacy was great enough that many of his poems were still published, although the attribution was changed to "anonymous". In Israel, his legacy was controversial, because of his conversion to Christianity.

I, 9

• canopy = (חוּפּא) chuppah; by extension, the wedding ceremony, as distinct from the celebration. The chuppah is the canopy under which a Jewish couple stands during their wedding ceremony. Although a Jewish wedding is considered valid with or without it, the chuppa is considered an integral part of the ceremony.

II, 5

• "Each shall seek his own kind." ?

II, 6

• Zolodin
• St Petersburg
• Rabalevka
• eye for eye, tooth for tooth
• blind and toothless (Gandhi)
• Messiah
• Next year, in Jerusalem.
• That Motel is a person translates into Yiddish אַז מאָטעל איז אַ מענטש  which is transliterated as "Az Motel iz a Mentsh." Perhaps it is better rendered into English as "That Motel is a Mensch." The Yiddish word Mensch or Mench (מענטש) means "human being", and is cognate with the German word Mensch. (In the 1980s one might have said, "That Motel is a real man.")
• Cracow (in Polish, Kraków) is the second-largest city in Poland (after Warsaw), and was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596. It has the second-oldest university in central Europe (after Prague). In 1795, in the third partition of Poland, Krakow became part of Austria.

References:

There are some additional glossaries of terms and curiosities from Fiddler on the Roof.  Please visit:

• From Sholem Aleichem and Chagall to the Fiddler on the Roof: A short glossary of historical events, characters, and actors
• Glossary of Jewish Terminology (a partial list of Hebrew, Yiddish, and other Jewish terms)
• A Glossary of Yiddish Words
• Forty Yiddish Words You Should Know

• Many definitions are from Dictionary.com.
• Many references are from Wikipedia

• Last updated: 08/30/2011.
• For additions, suggestions, corrections, or comments on this glossary, please email me:  tf_mcq <at> yahoo.com.
• Return to McQ’s theater page.