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Professor David Shneer's Review of the Yiddish production of "Fiddler on the Roof"

Professor David Shneer head shot
In Professor David Shneer's latest article, "How Jewish Can One Fiddler Be?: Reflections on the Folksbiene’s Fidler afn dakh," he and colleague Professor Rebecca Kobrin of Columbia University consider why this Yiddish version of Fiddler on the Roof (with English and Russian subtitles) is the best rendition they've seen. Read an excerpt from the article below:

David learned about the Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof from his husband’s non-Jewish aunt, who lives on the Upper West Side. Auntie Kay, as we call her, has the pulse on Jewish New York like no one else, even though she’s not Jewish. He then emailed his culture-maven colleague in New York, Rebecca Kobrin, to see if she wanted to join him and his husband on Friday (a midday matinee before sunset, of course) at Fidler afn dakh, the newest production of the Folksbiene. After three hours of laughing, crying (okay, neither of us cried but plenty of tears were shed in the intimate theatre space), and applauding, we left the theatre agreeing that this was the best production of Fiddler we have seen.

Professor Shneer is the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History and Professor of History, Religious Studies and Jewish Studies.

Read the full article on Digital Yiddish Theater Project