Editing Tevye

{{About |the fictional character|the 1939 film|Tevya (film)}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Tevye
| series = <!-- or |franchise=; use without the italic on the outside -->
| image = Fiddler On the Roof (27817904235).jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Actor John Stefano portraying Tevye in ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''
| first_major = ''Tevye the Dairyman''
| first_minor = <!-- or |first_issue=; Per [[MOS:MINORWORK]] - minor works include TV episodes, chapters, songs and game missions -->
| first_date = 1894
| first = <!-- Use instead of first_major= etc. when custom or complex formatting is needed. -->
| last_major = 
| last_minor = <!-- or |last_issue= -->
| last_date = 
| last = <!-- Use instead of last_major= etc. when custom or complex formatting is needed. -->
| creator = [[Sholem Aleichem]]
| based_on = <!-- if not an original creation, use {{based on|character|author}} -->
| adapted_by = <!-- for character adaption articles -->
| designer = 
| portrayer = Evgeniy Knyazev<br>[[Chaim Topol]]<br>[[Zero Mostel]]<br>[[Theodore Bikel]]<br>[[Shmuel Rodensky]]<br>[[Maurice Schwartz]]<br>[[Luther Adler]]<br>[[Herschel Bernardi]]<br>[[Paul Lipson]]<br>[[Alfred Molina]]<br>[[Harvey Fierstein]]<br>[[Henry Goodman]]<br>[[Danny Burstein]]<br>[[Yehezkel Lazarov]]<br>[[Anthony Warlow]]<br>[[Steven Skybell]]<br>[[Jacob Medich]]
| voice = 
| motion_actor = 
| full_name = 
| nickname = <!-- or |nicknames= -->
| alias = <!-- or |aliases= -->
| species = <!-- or |race=; for non-humans only -->
| gender = Male
| title = 
| occupation = [[Milkman]]
| spouse = Golde
| significant_other = <!-- or |significant_others= -->
| children = 7 daughters, including Tzeitel, Chava, Hodel, Shprintze, Taybele and Bielke
| relatives = 
| religion = [[Judaism]]
| origin = <!-- or |home= -->
| nationality = Citizen of the [[Russian Empire]]
}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
[[File:TEVYE.png|thumb|Poster in [[Vilnius]] (Vilna) for a stage version of Tevye.]]
[[File:Tewje der milchiker.jpg|thumb|''Tevye der milkhiker'' by [[Rywka Berger]] (1934)]]
'''Tevye the Dairyman''', also translated as  '''Tevye the Milkman''' ({{langx|yi|טבֿיה דער מילכיקער}}, ''Tevye der milkhiker''<ref>Spelled טעוויע דער מילכיקער during the Soviet era, also spelled טבֿיה/טעוויע דער מילכיגער ''Tevye der milkhi'''g'''er'' under the influence of German</ref><ref>In 1918-1939 polish editions of books about Tevye the title was latinized as Tewje/Tewie/Tojwie der Milchiker/Milchygier/Milchiger/Mildhiger/Mylchikier/Mylchyker.<br />See [https://polona.pl/search/?query=tewje&filters=public:1], [https://libraria.ua/search/?Search=tojwie]</ref> {{IPA|yi|ˈtɛvjə ˌdɛr ˈmilxikər|}}) is the fictional narrator and protagonist of a series of short stories by [[Sholem Aleichem]], and their various adaptations, the most famous being the musical ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'', which premiered on Broadway in 1964, and its [[Fiddler on the Roof (film)|1971 film adaptation]]. Tevye is a pious [[Jews in Russia|Jewish]] [[dairy]]man living in the [[Russian Empire]], the patriarch of a family including several troublesome daughters.{{Efn | In the first short story, there is also a mention of a seventh daughter; in ''Fiddler,'' however, there are only five daughters (using the first five names listed below), of whom only the first three have major roles.}} The village of Boyberik, where the stories are set (renamed Anatevka in ''Fiddler on the Roof),'' is based on the town of [[Boyarka]], Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. Boyberik is a suburb of [[Yehupetz]] (based on [[Kyiv]]), where most of Tevye's customers live.

The stories were written in [[Yiddish]] and first published in 1894; they have been published as ''Tevye and His Daughters'', ''Tevye's Daughters'', ''Tevye the Milkman'', and ''Tevye the Dairyman''.

As Tevye "tells" Aleichem the tales of his family life, six of his seven daughters (Tzeitel, Chava, Hodel, Shprintze, Taybele, and Bielke) are named, and of these five play leading roles in Tevye's stories.  The stories tell of his business dealings, the romantic dealings and marriages of several of his daughters, and the expulsion of the Jews from their village by the Russian government.

The Tevye stories have been adapted for stage and film several times. Sholem Aleichem's own Yiddish stage adaptation was not produced during his lifetime; its first production, by Maurice Schwartz, was in 1919. (Schwartz did a film based on the play twenty years later.) The Broadway musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'' was based on a play written by [[Arnold Perl]] called ''Tevye and His Daughters''. ''Tevye the Dairyman'' has had four film adaptations: in Yiddish (1939), Hebrew (1968), English (1971) and Russian (2017).

== Name ==
The name ''Tevye'' is the [[Yiddish]] derivative of the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] name טוביה, ''Tuvya'' (i.e., [[Tobias]]).{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}. In Hebrew, the character is known as טוביה החולב, ''Tuvya ha-cholev'', {{IPA|he|ˈtuvja (h)aχoˈlev|}}, 'Tobias the dairyman'.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}. Tevye's full name, with its Yiddish patronymic, is Tevye ben Shneur Zalman.<ref>Aleichem, Sholem. Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor's Son (Penguin Classics) (p. 93). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.</ref>

==Stories==
''Tevye the Dairyman'' comprises eight stories, with Tevye each time supposedly meeting Sholom Aleichem by chance and relating the latest tale of his trials and tribulations.  They have been published in translation under the following titles:<ref>{{Citation | first = Sholom | last = Aleichem | others = [[Hillel Halkin]] transl | publisher = [[Schocken Books|Schocken]] | year = 1987 | title = Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories | series = Library of Yiddish Classics | isbn = 0-8052-1069-5}}</ref>
# ''Tevye Strikes It Rich'' (also translated as ''Tevye Wins a Fortune'' or ''The Great Windfall'')
# ''Tevye Blows A Small Fortune'' (also translated as ''The Roof Falls In'' or ''The Bubble Bursts'')
# ''Today's Children'' (also translated as ''Modern Children'')
# ''Hodel''
# ''Chava''
# ''Shprintze''
# ''Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel'' (also translated as ''Tevye Goes to Palestine'' or ''Tevye is Going to Eretz Yisroel'')
# ''Lekh-Lekho'' (also translated as ''Get Thee Out'')

Not all the events of the stories are depicted in ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'', the best-known adaptation. For instance, by the time of the events of ''Lekh-Lekho'', Tevye's wife Golde, his daughter Shprintze, and his son-in-law Motl have all died; also in ''Lekh-Lekho'', upon learning of the Jews' expulsion, Chava leaves her [[Russian Orthodox]] husband, wanting to return to her family and share their exile. Aleichem leaves it to the reader to decide whether or not Tevye forgives her and takes her back, saying:
{{Blockquote | Put yourself in Tevye's place and tell me honestly, in plain language, what you would have done… ''(Hillel Halkin translation)''.}}

and ending the story with "The old God of Israel still lives!"

A 2009 translation includes a final short story titled ''Vachalaklokos'' that takes place after ''Lekh-Lekho''.<ref>{{Citation | first = Sholom | last = Aleichem | others = Aliza Shevrin transl | publisher = [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] | series = [[Penguin Classics|Classics]] | year = 2009 | title = Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor's Son | isbn = 978-0-1431-0560-2}}</ref>

Other translations include:
* {{Citation | first = Sholem | last = Aleichem | others = Miriam Katz transl | publisher = Pangloss | year = 1994 | title = Sholem Aleykhem's Tevye the Dairyman | edition = complete, illustrated | isbn = 0-9347-1031-7}}.
* {{Citation | first = Sholem | last = Aleichem | others = Frances Butwin transl | title = Tevye's Daughters: Collected Stories of Sholom Aleichem | orig-year = Crown Publishers, 1949 | publisher = Sholom Aleichem Family | year = 1999 | isbn = 1-9290-6803-4 | author-mask = 3}}; for many years, this translation seems to have been the standard published version.

The story "Tevye Strikes It Rich" was adapted for children by Gabriel Lisowski in 1976 and published under the title ''How Tevye Became a Milkman".<ref>{{Citation | first = Labriel | last = Lisowski | others = adapted by permission of the Family of Sholem Aleichem | publisher = [[Holt McDougal|Holt, Rhinehart & Winston]] | year = 1976 | title = How Tevye Became a Milkman | isbn = 0-03-016636-5 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/howtevyebecamemi00liso}}</ref>

===Audio adaptations===
The Tevye stories have been recorded and commercially released twice:
* {{Citation | first = Sholem | last = Aleichem | series = Audio Renaissance | publisher = [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] Audio | year = 1987 | title = The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman | isbn = 978-1-55927379-4 | others = [[Theodore Bikel]] narrator | edition = unabridged}}, with six of the stories: ''Tevye Strikes It Rich'', ''Tevye Blows a Small Fortune'', ''Today's Children'', ''Hodl'', ''Chava'' and ''Lekh-Lekho''.
* {{Citation | first = Sholem | last = Aleichem | publisher = [[Naxos Records|Naxos]] Audiobooks | year = 2009 | title = Tevye the Milkman | series = Classic Fiction | isbn = 978-962634934-2 | edition = unabridged | others = [[Neville Jason]] narrator | author-mask = 3}}.

An audio production of [[Arnold Perl]]'s play ''Tevya and His Daughters'' was released by [[Columbia Masterworks Records|Columbia Masterworks]] in 1957 (OL 5225); the cast included [[Mike Kellin]] as Tevya, Anna Vita Berger as Golde/The Rich Woman, [[Joan Harvey]] as Tzeitl, Carroll Conroy as Hodl, and [[Howard Da Silva]] (who also directed the production) as Lazar Wolf/The Rich Merchant/The Rabbi.<ref>{{Citation|title=Tevya And His Daughters (1957, Vinyl)|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/10776323-Various-Tevya-And-His-Daughters|publisher=Discogs|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19}}</ref>

The [[NPR]]/[[Yiddish Book Center]] 13-part mid-1990s radio series ''Great Jewish Stories from Eastern Europe and Beyond'', hosted by [[Leonard Nimoy]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Great Jewish Stories from Eastern Europe and Beyond|url=https://burnsfilmcenter.org/test-jff-stories/|access-date=2021-11-19|website=Jacob Burns Film Center|language=en-US}}</ref> broadcast a reading of the story "Chava" performed by [[Walter Matthau]].

== Portrayals ==
[[Zero Mostel]] and [[Chaim Topol]] are the two actors most associated with the role of Tevye, although [[Theodore Bikel]] performed it many times on stage.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Boehm|first=Mike|date=2013-08-24|title=Theodore Bikel and Tevye, the perfect match|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-theodore-bikel-tevye-20130825-story.html|access-date=2021-11-19|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> For the film version of ''Fiddler on the Roof'', the part ultimately went to Topol, as producer-director [[Norman Jewison]] felt that Mostel's portrayal was too unnecessarily comic. Topol was nominated for an [[Academy Award]] for his performance in the film version of ''Fiddler''. He also portrayed the character nearly 3,500 times on stage, retiring the role in 2009.

Other noteworthy musical Tevyes have included [[Luther Adler]], [[Herschel Bernardi]], [[Paul Lipson]] (original Broadway run, over 2,000 performances), [[Leonard Nimoy]] (1971 touring company), [[Shmuel Rodensky]] (original Israeli, Yiddish and German productions), [[Alfred Molina]] and [[Harvey Fierstein]] (2004 Broadway revival), [[Henry Goodman]] (2007 London revival), [[Danny Burstein]] (2015 Broadway revival), [[Yehezkel Lazarov]] (2018 touring company) and [[Steven Skybell]] (2018 Off-Broadway revival in Yiddish). [[Paul Michael Glaser]], who played Perchik in the 1971 film version, played Tevye in a 2013–14 touring production in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.fiddlerontheroof.co.uk/ | title = The fiddler on the roof | place = United Kingdom}}.</ref>

''[[Tevya (film)|Tevya]]'' is the name of a 1939 film adaptation of the story, performed entirely in Yiddish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishfilm.org/Catalogue/films/tevye.html |title= Tevye |publisher=The National Center for Jewish Film |access-date=2014-09-18}}</ref> In this adaptation, Tevye, played by [[Maurice Schwartz]], is portrayed as gruff with flashes of wit and humor.

Prior to the 1964 Broadway debut of ''Fiddler on the Roof'', adaptations of the Tevye stories appeared on stage and screen, in America and beyond. The earliest screen version was an American silent film called ''[[Broken Barriers (1919 film)|Broken Barriers]]'', based on Aleichem's own theatrical treatment and released in 1919 (just a few years after Aleichem died). In 1962, [[Gerhard Klingenberg]] directed the television film ''Tevya und seine Töchter''. After ''Fiddler on the Roof'' became a Broadway sensation, an Israeli film called ''Tuvia Vesheva Benotav'' (''[[Tevye and His Seven Daughters]]'') starring [[Shmuel Rodensky]] was released in 1968, as well as two Russian versions: ''Teve-molochnik'' (''Tevye the Milkman'') in 1985 and ''Myr vashomu domu!'' (''Tevye's Daughters'') in 2017.

In 2018, Jerusalem Ballet published a ballet adaptation based on both ''Tevye the Dairyman'' and ''Fiddler on the Roof'', by Russian [[ballet dancer]]-[[Choreography|choreographer]] Igor Menshikov.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.midnighteast.com/mag/?p=49084|title=Jerusalem Ballet Presents Fiddler on the Roof {{!}} MidnightEast|last=Dekel|first=Ayelet|date=7 October 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-26}}</ref> Tevye has been portrayed by Israeli ballet dancer Meitar Basson.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Jerusalem-Ballet-Fiddler-On-The-Roof-569927|title=Jerusalem Ballet-Fiddler On The Roof|website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] {{!}} JPost.com|date=21 October 2018 |access-date=2020-01-26}}</ref>

==Films==
*''[[Broken Barriers (1919 film)|Broken Barriers]]'' (1919) with [[Maurice Schwartz]] as Tevye
*[[Tevya (film)|''Tevya'']] (1939) with [[Maurice Schwartz]] as Tevye
*''[[Tevye and His Seven Daughters]] (Tuvia Vesheva Benotav)'' (1968, Israel/West Germany) with [[Shmuel Rodensky]] as Tevye
*''[[Fiddler on the Roof (film)|Fiddler on the Roof]]'' (1971) with [[Chaim Topol]] as Tevye
*''Tevye's Daughters (Myr vashomu domu!'' In Ukrainian: ''Мир Вашому дому!)'' (2017, Ukraine) with Evgeniy Knyazev as Tevye<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/articles/tevyes-daughters-ukraine|title = Tevye's Daughters (Ukraine)| date=29 November 2018 }}</ref>

==Television==
*''Tevye and His Seven Daughters (Tuvia Vesheva Benotav)'' (1962, West Germany) with Alfred Balthoff as Tevye
*''Alta comedia: Tevié, el lechero'' (1965, Argentina)
*''Teve-molochnik'' (1985, Soviet Union) with Mikhail Ulyanov as Tevye

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist |30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Citation | last = Liptzin | first = Sol | title = A History of Yiddish Literature | publisher = Jonathan David | place = Middle Village, NY | year = 1972 | isbn = 0-8246-0124-6 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/historyofyiddish00lipt/page/68 68–70] | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofyiddish00lipt/page/68}}.
* {{Citation | last = Huttner | first = Jan Lisa | title = Tevye's Daughters: No Laughing Matter | publisher = FF2 Media | place = New York, NY | year = 2014 | asin = B00NQDQCTG}}.

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|last1=Aleichem|first1=Sholem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IsJhzFoWmtkC|title=Sholem Aleykhem's Tevye the Dairyman: Complete : Illustrated|last2=Katz|first2=Miriam|date=1994|publisher=Joseph Simon/Pangloss Press|isbn=978-0-934710-31-2|language=en}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0032012|title=Tevye the Milkman}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0352910|title=Tevye and His Seven Daughters}} (German TV movie) {{in lang|de}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0067093|title=Fiddler on the Roof}}
* {{ibdb show|id=3513|title=Fiddler on the Roof}}
* [https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc201649/sholem-aleichem-tevye-der-milkhiker Tevye der milkhiker (Tevye the Dairyman) in Yiddish], ([[Warsaw]]: [[Kultur Lige]], 1921), digitised by the [[Yiddish Book Center]]
* {{Internet Archive|251SholemAleichemKatontiIAmUnworthy.ReadByShmuelAtzmon|An audio version of Tevye der milkhiker (Tevye the Dairyman) in Yiddish, Read by Shmuel Atzmon}}
* {{Internet Archive|howtevyebecamemi00liso|How Tevye Became a Milkman by Gabriel Lisowski}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLIiOzfMmOs&t=197s Listen to "Chava" performed by Walter Matthau and introduced by Leonard Nimoy, on YouTube]

{{Fiddler on the Roof|state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:Sholem Aleichem]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1894]]
[[Category:Yiddish-language literature]]
[[Category:Musical theatre characters]]
[[Category:Fictional Ukrainian people]]
[[Category:Fictional Jews]]
[[Category:Fictional milkmen]]
[[Category:Drama film characters]]