by Yvette Perry
With its familiar themes of persecution, tradition, and survival, Fiddler on the Roof could not be more relevant as we celebrate Passover while enduring our own days filled with uncertainty and imbalance. We find comfort relying on tradition and faith in times of uneasiness and turbulence. As Tevye says, “Without tradition, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.”
Though we may be safely ensconced in our homes, we feel exiled from our own active lives. The Hagaddah compels us to appreciate our freedom, for our survival has not been easy to come by. That we survived and thrived, now that was a miracle. Something that we must never forget. That is the miracle of Jewish survival. “Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles.”
At that, let us all take a deep breath and remind ourselves that we will get through these dark days. That we are not alone. That we are together virtually for now. That we will be rejoined as one in our Sanctuary one day soon. And that, once again, we will survive and thrive.
“May all your futures be pleasant ones,
Not like our present ones,
Drink, l’chaim, to life!”
[Fiddler on the Roof lyrics by Sheldon Harnick]
