Tevya (1939)

Maurice Schwartz: Tevya

Photos 

Quotes 

• Tevya 'Tevye' : He's as accustomed to the whip as I am to poverty.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : You need the book now?

  Chavah 'Khave' : Papa we agreed you wouldn't mix in my business. Like it's written, "Mine art thine, and thine, thine."

  Tevya 'Tevye' : Spoken like a true ignoramus. But you do know the grammar. Never mix in someone else's business. For example, if I mixed in with Mama's borscht?

  Goldie 'Golde' : Crazy man! The borscht waits, and he sings!

  Tevya 'Tevye' : You hear? The sages were right. A hundred-pound Jewess has two tons of talk. We're discussing books. She's discussing borscht.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : How is your breadwinner? Probably sits all day at scripture and worship, sewing underpants.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : What an ancestry! His grandfather Terenti was an unbelievable drunk who beat his wife three times a week. And his great-grandfather spent his life slopping hogs and peeling potatoes. What an ancestry!

• Tevya 'Tevye' : What you get from raising children. You old fool, where were your eyes, where was your sense? What do you say, Golde?

  Goldie 'Golde' : What is there to be said?

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Now you can cry. But not Tevye. Tevye is not an old Jewish woman.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Mikita, we've always been good neighbors. Please, have pity. My Chava's inside. I want to see her for one minute. Please, I'm begging you. I won't do anything to her or to your son. Please.

  Mikita Galagen, Fedya's Father : How should I know where your daughter is? Leave me alone, you stubborn...

  Tevya 'Tevye' : You know, Mikita. You're going to the priest, to my destruction. I'm begging you. I'll give you my last shirt, my coat.

  Mikita Galagen, Fedya's Father : Shove off, pest!

  Goldie 'Golde' : Kolina, dear, you're a mother yourself.

  Mrs. Galagen, Mikita's Wife : Shove off! Disgusting pest!

  Mikita Galagen, Fedya's Father : It's impossible to get rid of you!

  Mrs. Galagen, Mikita's Wife : I can't stand them!

  Tevya 'Tevye' : [Mikita and Kolina exit, to Golde]  So how do you like our in-laws? Wonderful in-laws. In-laws.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Let's go.

  Goldie 'Golde' : Where?

  Tevya 'Tevye' : We'll go where we'll go.

• Goldie 'Golde' : Tevya, be careful how you talk to him. If you start in with your quotes, we'll be lost. Be gentle. Don't shout.

  Tevya 'Tevye' : Should I dance? He took away the most precious thing I have. Should I be silent?

• Zeitel 'Tseytl' : What will we do?

  Tevya 'Tevye' : Stop crying. You're bawling like it's Yom Kippur.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : We're going to the land of Israel.

  Zeitel 'Tseytl' : Why Israel, Papa?

  Tevya 'Tevye' : Where else? America? What will I do there in my old age? I don't know their language and they don't know mine. That leaves Argentina, Palestine, or the land of Israel. Then I'll see the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb and Mount Sinai and Piden-Aram and Pithom and Raamses.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Why are you crying? This never happened before? When were we not chased out? Where? It's what they do.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : God. God, where are you? Where are you?

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Bless you! She's listening. She wants to learn. But Psalms are not for women. Men have to know Psalms.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : The twig torn from the tree must wither. The leaf that falls dries out.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Is this a dream? Am I Tevye?

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Maybe I should close my eyes then open them and say, "Thou art forgiven." But it's hard. Where is God? Have I sinned so terribly? Sinned. On the other hand, do I have to take up God's case? God, what should I do?

• Tevya 'Tevye' : Evicted from the village? In the 50-odd years I lived with you, I never stole, or cheated, or hurt anyone.

  Magistrate : The Tsar has decreed that all Jews must be evicted from the villages.

• Tevya 'Tevye' : [to Golde]  We talked about this. You don't mix in my business. Like it's written, "Mine art thine, thine art mine."

• [last lines] 

  Tevya 'Tevye' : God. What do you say? I don't know.

• Chavah 'Khave' : You yourself said there is one God over everyone, so therefore...

  Tevya 'Tevye' : That's true. To God we're the same. All Israel has a share, in the world to come. That means Jews and gentiles are equal. But this you know. The Holy Torah commands us to love all peoples. But Amalek, who tormented us, we must never forget. Right?