Jewish Studies Film Events Explore 'Fiddler on the Roof'

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Many of us know the beloved musical of stage and screen Fiddler on the Roof. But do you know its roots? And have you ever seen other versions of it? Now is your chance to indulge your nostalgia and your curiosity! Come watch Fiddler on the Roof on Nov. 24, and then compare the Yiddish version Tevye the Dairyman on Dec. 8!

On Monday, Nov. 24, beginning at 6:30 p.m., the popular 1971 movie musical Fiddler on the Roof, based on the stage show of the same name, a staple of musical theater programs everywhere, will be shown. With humor and heart, it tackles an array of topics, from life in Czarist Russia and persecution of Jews to tension between tradition and modernizing forces. But how does the film stack up to its source material, the Tevye stories of beloved Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem? What must be adapted to appeal to a universal audience? Come watch the film and hear about its roots with professor Jacob Adler. (Also, the film includes Molly Picon, whom some of you will remember from last year's "Yidl mitn Fidl"!)

And then on Monday, Dec. 8, beginning at 6.30 p.m., you'll have a chance to see a different cinematic adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's Tevye stories, the 1939 Yiddish film Tevye der Milkhiker (Tevye the Dairyman, with English subtitles). With the wit and drama we expect of Yiddish theater and film, it is nonetheless a quite different retelling of Sholem Aleichem's Tevye stories, retaining the staple characters and tensions, but with adaptations for a different international audience: Yiddish-speaking Jews experiencing similar tensions--and dangers--themselves, around the world.

Come compare the films and discuss with Adler, and in the process you'll even learn a little bit more about the author Sholem Aleichem and the Yiddish language!

Both films will be shown at Temple Shalom in Fayetteville. The screenings have been made possible by the Legacy Heritage Fund Jewish Studies Project (directed by the Association for Jewish Studies), the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas Hillel. Contact Adler at jadler@uark.edu or Jennifer Hoyer at jhoyer@uark.edu for information.