Illustration by Morburre

I was watching the original movie of Fiddler on the Roof on the evening of Independence Day, and when the poor Jews of the Russian Stetl, Anatevka, were told at the end of the film, to leave in three days, I thought to myself “thank goodness we have our own land, Israel”.  Never again will a whole area of Jewish inhabitants be told to “get out because we want this area Judenrein (empty of Jews).”

It beggars belief that this was a common occurrence in the 20^th century.  First, the Eastern Europeans and then the Nazis had the fixation of clearing the land of Jews so that their lives would be better for it. 

Tevye and his family were amongst the people leaving the only home they had ever known, and struggling with the cart holding their meager belongings to go to another country.  I know it’s only a story, but I thought to myself that it could be true and that at least if they left Eastern Europe and went to America or Palestine they would be spared the Holocaust 30 years later.

It takes a movie of such splendid writing of Sholem Aleichem to bring such a possibility into perspective; it could be historical, but it does make one think of our modern Israel and its defense.

Have we learned anything from these stories? One thing we should know is never to live in a hostile country.

I just thanked G-d that we have had a country of our own for the past 62 years and that the Tevyes of our century will never have to uproot themselves from their homes ever again.