Fiddler on the Roof

The musical begins with what is likely the most famous song: “Tradition” (1). Tevye leads the cast in an explanation of the strict familial gender roles that dictate Jewish life in the village of Anatevka. The social structure is patriarchal and family-based, with the father leading and making decisions for the family. The mothers take care of the household “so Papa’s free to read the holy book” (1) because the father is also responsible for the family’s spiritual well-being. Because of this familial-based structure, marriage is central to upholding tradition. It is more important that Tevye’s daughters marry decent Jewish men than that Tevye has the power to choose those men, because marriage is required to perpetuate the lineage of sons and daughters to raise up and continue traditions. Tzeitel must hurry and marry a Jewish man while she can still bear children. For Yente, who was unable to have children with her husband, her childlessness relegates her to a different role in the community than as a mother.

Tradition, however, is separate from religious law. At the beginning of the Prologue, Tevye explains the tradition of covering one’s head with a yarmulke and wearing a tallit, or a prayer shawl, joking: “You may ask how did this tradition start.