Yeah I Mean Honestly I Would Like To Say That I’d Be Ok With (hypothetically, I’m Aromantic) Marrying

yeah I mean honestly I would like to say that I’d be ok with (hypothetically, I’m aromantic) marrying a non-Jew, but I wouldn’t be. And yes, love is love, and tevye undoubtedly made the right decision, but if I were here parents, I’d be a bit disappointed/betrayed. ESPECIALLY in a shtetl during the time of the pogroms, when Jews could generally only trust other Jews.

i've noticed that there is a bit of ingrained antisemitism in some non-jewish fiddler on the roof fans and im not gonna lie it really rubs me the wrong way. like they probably don't even know they're being kinda antisemitic in this way

here's what i mean. fiddler on the roof is about (shocker) jewish tradition and change. when you see tevye who cannot accept his daughter for marrying a non-jew, do you think, "oh, he's set in his ways, he's bigoted, he's just not modern enough, his (jewish) tradition is making him blind." ? whereas every time someone in my family would see it for the first time, literally everyone said, "it's a shame, but i absolutely understand why."

i think that's the most important thing -- do you understand why a man like tevye, a jewish man whose judaism is incredibly important to him, a jewish man who lives in the pale of settlement and whose village is under constant threat of pogroms, a jewish man who is alive in this period literally 2 years after the infamous kishinev pogroms (assuming this story takes place in 1905), a jewish man whose ancestors were constantly persecuted for being jewish (ESPECIALLY in the pale), a jewish man who is so remarkably proud to be jewish despite all of this --- do you understand why this man might be rightfully upset at his daughter for breaking the tradition that he and his people have paid with their lives to keep?

you can disagree with tevye's decision all you want -- i do too -- but like. if you don't see this you need to check yourself. fiddler on the roof is not just about the breaking of tradition -- it's about the breaking of tradition that is been their only method of survival for generations because they are Jews.