Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish: Highlights

Highlights of the folksbiene production of A Fiddler on the Roof directed by Joel Grey
Click newyorktheater... for photos and a review

[@Hollis_has_questions]

i can't stop tearing up! to hear Fiddler in Yiddish is really wonderful. i grew up an American girl with no talent for languages, but my Bubbe (Golda) and Pop (Reuben) lived with us for most of my first two decades, and they spoke mostly Yiddish. Pop emigrated in c. 1908, settled in Brooklyn, NY, and worked as a barber until, in c. 1910, he could afford to send for Bubbe, their son Harry, and Bubbe's brother, my great-uncle Larry. the rest is herstory. there's a particular rhythm to spoken Yiddish that i'm not getting from this production, but i understand that they have to speak very clearly -- as stage actors -- in order for their dialogue to be understood. only it's not the Yiddish i'm used to hearing, per se. my relatives spoke rapidly and imprecisely, just as any native language speaker speaks their native language. THIS Yiddish is stage Yiddish, but that's okay by me. i'm Jewish by ethnicity -- and cuisine (schmaltz RULES!) -- but an atheist IRL. that really doesn't matter here. this is a story not so much about immigration TO new places as it is about why people are FORCED to emigrate FROM their homelands to places unknown to them and strange, perhaps hostile, but possibly safer. idk how many folks are with me on this one, but my favorite Fiddler song is the last one, Anatevka ... for this very reason. the Russia of Fiddler is full of dangers to Jews -- the Tsar encouraged pogroms, ffs! and now, in 2019 America, we have a wannabe tsar who is himself encouraging pogrom-like behaviors. and he has a loud base that cheers his hateful words and policies. if we don't love it here, he says, we should leave. he's not the first to suggest such things, by no means. but what does it mean: to love America? does it mean to want our country to be all like-minded, all this way or that way, and to be intolerant to the point of assassination towards any differences? or does it mean to welcome ALL Others, to embrace a U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights that guarantees freedoms to all Americans that have never before been enumerated? i have to say -- and i do this not so much facetiously as ironically -- that i owe our current president a thank-you for bringing up these questions, the answers to which are pretty easy to formulate. the PROPER answers, id est. the problem we're having is with the inability of Americans to think critically and to formulate the proper questions to set against hateful philosophies. Fiddler on the Roof has always been my best-loved musical, ever. until a few years ago, it sat at the top of my list all by its lonesome. then came Hamilton. now i have two all-time favorite musicals, and both concern immigrants and their actual and potential contributions to a healthy society. the older i get, the more Yiddishisms i find myself resorting to, to describe situations. IMO, Yiddish is the BEST language for cursing; its euphemisms are so colorful and sardonic while at the same time so damn FUNNY! who doesn't know what chutzpah is? but did you know that one way to say *drop dead* in Yiddish is to say, virtually, *you should make like an onion, with your head in the ground and your feet in the air*? go ahead, Google an online Yiddish dictionary and have fun just reading how ideas are expressed in that colorful hybrid lingua franca. i like to say that there are as many words for different kinds of sighs in Yiddish as there are for different kinds of snow in Inuktitut. Eskimos know from snow; Jews know from sighs ... Nu, when am i going to be able to purchase the online Yiddish recording of Fiddler? kzbin.info/www/bejne/maa5Yqycn5eBhK8

[@janedoe5229]

I see you hate Trump, who supports Israel. How are you enjoying Biden? How are you enjoying the liberal democrats turning their backs on Israel after October 7th and supporting the "poor, sad" Palestinians who massacred Israelis? FYI: Conservatives support Israel. Fundamentalists and Evangelicals read the Hebrew scriptures as well as the Christian scriptures. They know that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. You might want to double-check to see which side your bread is buttered on.

[@juliusweil3788]

This production is amazing, these videos do not do it justice. The energy, and if you speak Yiddish it adds deeper meaning to the lyrics. This puts the Yid back in Fiddler. Steven Skybell is an amazing Fiddler. and Jackie Hoffman as Yenta is brilliant.

[@IlaughedIcried]

WOW, Jackie Hoffman playing Yenta!! That's brilliant -- she's such a great character actress.

[@kenmcleod3733]

IlaughedIcried And this time she is not over the top like she usually is.

[@walterwhite4862]

Steven Skybell played Tevye, not the Fiddler.

[@jorkmorks]

I loved the production when I saw it last year and Yenta was definitely the highlight

[@sarinakopinsky915]

Fiddler in Yiddish is back, playing through Jan 1, 2023 at New World Stages in New York. The same wonderful production as before.

[@NavyMooseCMMC]

I miss hearing Yiddish and this made my week, perhaps even month. I would love to see this production come to Boston.

[@lostmybadger]

i watch this video almost every day, and every time i think to myself: fyedka is ripped

[@chaimphoto]

We know every line by heart and it is still a delight to partake again.

[@deborah393]

This was such a wonderful production, which inspired me to start learning Yiddish. Saw it three times and was so disappointed when it closed. I would have seen it at least three times more!

[@boblinden4488]

We saw it this past December at The Museum of Jewish Heritage. We loved it.

[@ellynmacgregor8210]

Mazel tov, Mr. Grey and your wonderfully talented troupe! And aren't we all lucky to have this now?

[@LoudCitizen]

Well, this is a dream come true. I’ve got half of my family interested in flying into New York City to see this, even ones who I’ve never been able to entice here.. Myself, I’ve reserved tickets for my for birthday - I know I’ll be bawling during the whole show - and if family and friends want to come, there’s a good chance I’ll see this at least three times. I CANNOT WAIT!

[@GC-Haendlach]

I found your situation as you described it amazingly similar to mine. Additionally, some more info is that on most days I would be plenty challenged to make it to the east side of Madison (I live on the west side), I saw this as such a once in a lifetime Opportunity that I simply announced That I was going to NY -who wants to come?

[@Hollis_has_questions]

i have a very clear memory of seeing this with my parents on Broadway in the late '60s (Hershel Bernardi, not Zero Mostel ... alas). my dad and i were both silently weeping -- tears streaming down our cheeks -- at various times. i've also seen it under a tent on Long Island (Robert Merrill) and on the London stage in c. 1973-74. but DAMN, i'd love to see this in NYC, city of my birth (well, Brooklyn, technically)!

[@Hollis_has_questions]

Nu, how was it?

[@autumnlheureux4231]

Love fiddler...love the movie, & this production looks amazing. I was a props mistress, follow spot, & photographer for a community theatre production of Fiddler. We had a great cast. Fiddler is a very tech heavy show. Though it seems minimalist. It’s really not, I majored in cultural anthropology. I def got to incorporate some of my study in our production.

[@peteralfano4278]

Amazing, moving, thrillingly staged and it all makes sense. A beautiful experience

[@cindchan]

I would have LOVED to see this version!!

[@organboi]

It's still playing

[@Mustafa777.]

Molly Picon would have loved this so much

[@suebursztynski2530]

There was going to be a Yiddish Fiddler here in Melbourne. A friend of my brother’s was an understudy. Then COVID happened… 😢

[@antm64]

That bottle dance doesn't need any sort of translation! Fabulous!!

[@singerAR0406]

None of it does!

[@antm64]

@@singerAR0406 You're right!

[@samkahn7567]

If you look in the dictionary for a definition of the word kvetch, you’ll see a picture of me. I don’t like anything but I loved this show. Ever since the original Fiddler, I’ve seen the show 3 or 4 times and some were very good. This might be the best. There was something about the feeling that was conveyed to the audience that was almost spiritual. This was hamish, google hamish Yiddish if you don’t understand the word.

[@IlaughedIcried]

LOLing at your ownership of kvetching! :) And what you just wrote, about there being something spiritual to the feel of this show -- I feel it even just watching this video. It radiates out. There's something about even the IDEA of Fiddler being performed in Yiddish that leaves me verklempt... it's like the story is coming home to itself. I SO wish I could have seen the play during its run in NYC.

[@Big_Steve11]

I just found out this is closing on Jan 5th, I have to get to see it again

[@pialestrange5826]

this is actually very interesting. as a german, i can actually understand a bit bc they either sound the same or are the same words

[@Luverofmysoul2]

Yiddish is Germanic in nature and not Hebrew that's why.

[@hmped]

Yiddish is actually a mash up of multiple languages like English is!

[@keldonmcfarland2969]

@Pia Lestrange As an English speaker, listening to German always "sounds" familiar, like a kind of code I should be able to understand. It's seeing a puzzle out of focus and with pieces missing, but knowing the basic picture. The pacing of the words, inflection of pitch at key points.... I am very familiar with "Fiddler..." so this is a show I greatly regret that I missed. I really would have liked to seen it.

[@MOE435]

Yiddish was derived from German in by Ashkenazi Jews rooted in Germany hundreds of yrs ago. In fact, the very term Ashkenaz means Germany in Hebrew

[@waltergro9102]

@@MOE435 Yes, and medieval Jews called the German they spoke (and wrote) Idish Taitsh (Judeo-German). It only diverged when Jews emigrated to eastern Europe and their language integrated many Slavic features. In Germany a divergent evolution took place because of ghettoization. But for the medieval period no difference is established. Back then "German" meant the many High German dialects.

[@GreenleafPro]

This looks fantastic!

[@martinpatrick1746]

Topol starred in the film verison and he returned to the stage for a farewell performance in Australia.

[@kenmcleod3733]

Martin Patrick And he toured in the role in the US in the past decade, and was superb!

[@josemara]

So beautiful. I love these songs. First view, first like, first comment.

[@thertsman8233]

that's daniel kahn! I know that voice by heart.

[@lindawatkin9667]

I saw this on of Broadway.I did not need the subtitles.

[@hooey4362]

i'm hoping to learn yiddish someday but i'm already learning a couple other languages and there's unfortunately not much i'd be able to do with it (i'm american). still, it's such a beautiful language!

[@jasobres]

A fidlr afn dakh. Meshuggeh, nayn?

[@broadwaymelody33]

The script was written phonetically so they did their best with what they had lol

[@Hollis_has_questions]

that explains my issue with the spoken Yiddish in the stage production. but i'm still okay with it.

[@ZiSlepovitch]

@@Hollis_has_questions What do you mean? The stage production used the klal-shprakh, which is academically and literature-wise accepted norm of Yiddish. It is phonetically closer to the Litvak dialect, except EYs that are OYs, and some other details. Klal-shprakh also has three genders like other Eastern / Central European dialects. It sure is not an American Hasidic Yiddish based on Hungarian-Polish ("Central") group of dialects.

[@Hollis_has_questions]

@@ZiSlepovitch All you have to do is use your ears: Listen to them. They sound stiff and correct , but they don’t sound relaxed and conversational. It sounds like memorized and regurgitated dialogue. It may be technically correct, but there’s no spirit in it. If I were grading it, I’d give it a B+.

[@ZiSlepovitch]

@@Hollis_has_questions I listened to them about 500 times :) not everyone is fluent in accent, and I do acknowledge that to a native speaker it might be a harder experience than to a non-native or non-speaker; however, at the end, it is acting that counts, in addition to all words pronounced correctly, even if with an accent.

[@Hollis_has_questions]

@@ZiSlepovitch You seem to be taking this personally. Relax, I did not impugn the acting. I just remarked that their speech is stilted and lacks a relaxed flow. It sounds like they learned the dialogue phonetically, just as they original commenter noted. They’re speaking slowly and deliberately, in order to be understood from the stage. Just like I’m speaking to you now. LOL

[@robertkahan3826]

I’ve seen the show 12 times so far at Stage 42. Unless I’m wrong, the woman playing Golde in this clip is not Ms. Jennifer Babiak. Can someone clarify? I thought virtually the entire cast downtown moved with the show uptown. Does anyone know who the actress is in this clip as Golde? Curious!

[@judybarlas6409]

Jennifer Babiak took over the role in the first summer, while the show was still at the museum.

[@joshualebowitz]

Is the entire video available for purchase anywhere?

[@eliatkach6187]

Very nice

[@imisstoronto3121]

What's with the volume? It's non existent

[@alainvalette8744]

Do you know, where I can find all the lyrics in Yiddish from this new production of musical "Fiddler on the Roof" (A fidler afn dakh) and if it is possible to listen all full songs from the CD online on intenet? Thanks in advance for your precious information. All the best to you!

[@guidoallascalahaarverlange4094]

While this seems to be a memorable production despite not having much of a stage set therefore lacking the magical "Chagallesque" atmosphere, I'm sure it has alot of merits like an excellent cast even though it of course cannot wipe out memories of Topol as Tevye or the wonderful Michael Gluecksmann, a leading Tevye in Europea veteran of 9 productions, yet, especially in Germany

[@suebursztynski2530]

Even the Russians are singing in Yiddish!

[@singsingsing22]

The actress on the left at 1:10!! Who is she?? She looks so familiar.

[@matthewrosenthal6822]

Jackie Hoffman

[@boogerie]

Hard to believe the original was in English

[@eliatkach6187]

. Молодцы

[@lucianogueira4922]

Não entendo mas sei a história

[@МарияДушкин]

Зеер шейн

[@terts]

Terrible volume on videos! Would love to see a traveling show.

[@alisvolatpropriis4898]

Die Cossacks oiched kennen redden Yiddish? 😂

[@abbsiwan]

vus den?

[@benschroth7717]

It would help if it were audible. Neyn?

[@bigred8432]

I heard every word

[@denisadenise9309]

Hier haben das Vorteil die, die wenigstens Deutsch verstehen. Warum denn nur? 😊

[@savtazvia3456]

Yes. Their pronunciation needs some help.

[@sfmike711]

Savta Zvia: So, be a sweetheart and help them with their pronunciation!

[@lyricrogersofficial]

They read it phonetically.

[@xappuxok]

They need some help with their pronunciation.

[@Filiomena]

We all need some help with our pronunciation.

[@sfmike711]

CoCo studios: And your pronunciation in Yiddish is that much better?

[@Filiomena]

@@sfmike711 Yes it is, and take my word for it.

[@sfmike711]

@@Filiomena : Was I speaking to you?

[@Filiomena]

@@sfmike711 You be nice.

[@rockubabe]

I just saw the show on Broadway and it was amazing! It must have been very difficult for the actors to memorize their lines.