The Specter of a “New World Order” Created by Russia, China, and Iran
The Biden administration is ignoring a powerful, and growing, anti-American alliance.
February 3, 2022
The History, Enduring Appeal, and Lost Songs of “Fiddler on the Roof”
From a title inspired by a Chagall painting to 35 discarded songs, the classic musical has a rich and illuminating history.
When Fiddler on the Roof premiered on Broadway in 1964, Irving Howe panned it in Commentary, referring to Anatevka as “the cutest shtetl we’ve never had.” Philip Roth characterized it as “shtetl kitsch.” And behind the scenes, as Saul Jay Singer writes, there was a good deal of turmoil—Marc Chagall refused to design the set; the lead actor, Zero Mostel, repeatedly clashed with the director Jerome Robbins. In tracing the play’s colorful history, Singer points to possible reasons behind its enduring popularity.
February 3, 2022
Putting Turkey’s Overtures to Israel in Context
Erdogan capitalizes on a crisis of his own making.
Debates over Ritual-Slaughter Bans Heat Up in the European Union
A top EU official criticizes laws prohibiting kosher slaughter of animals.
YIVO’s New Digital Archive Helps Bring Prewar Vilna to Life
Archivists have restored and preserved an extraordinary trove of documents.
The History, Enduring Appeal, and Lost Songs of “Fiddler on the Roof”
From a title inspired by a Chagall painting to 35 discarded songs, the classic musical has a rich and illuminating history.