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Tradition - Fiddler on the Roof - Sunnyvale Players

17 Sept 2017 · 4 min

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3:43

This excerpt from the Sunnyvale Players' performance of the song "Tradition" in Fiddler on the Roof features multiple village characters (Speakers A‑C) reciting verses that outline the prescribed roles and customs of a traditional Jewish shtetl. Speaker A enumerates the duties of fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters, linking them to religious study, work, marriage, and household upkeep, while also invoking a blessing for the Tsar. Speaker B humorously offers a blessing that the Tsar stay far away. Speaker C expands the social hierarchy, mentioning the constable, priest, and other authorities, emphasizing the village’s self‑contained peace and harmony. The piece uses repetitive lyrical phrasing and a theatrical, celebratory tone to convey the community’s adherence to long‑standing traditions and its relationship to external powers.

Chapters

So the way to make a proper home, a quiet home, a kosher home, is raise a family and run the home. So Papa's free to read the holy book. The mama, the mama tradition. The mama, the mama tradition. At 3 I started Hebrew school. I went to school at 10, I learned a trade. I hear they picked a bride for me, I hope she's pretty. The sons, the sons, tradition. The sons, the sons, tradition. And who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix, preparing me To marry whoever our love takes. The Daughters! The Daughters! Tradition! The Daughters! The Daughters! Tradition! Day and night, must travel far, so we can kill wicked schools and save the children and face every fight. Like the music takes you back, now we are on the spaceships of the Lord. And in the circle of our little village, we've always had our special time. Is there a proper blessing for the Tsar?
A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar far away from us!
Then there are others in our village. They have a much bigger circle. His Honor the Constable, His Honor the Priest, and His Honor, well, many others. We don't bother them. And so far, they don't bother us. Now we live in simple peace and harmony.
Tradition. Tradition. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as, as a fiddler on the roof. Huh?