Bette Zaret, Holocaust Education Initiative
I have seen “Fiddler on the Roof” more times than I can count. I know the music, the humor, and the heartbreak well. Yet the recent and magnificent production at Asolo Repertory Theatre felt entirely new to me. It felt more urgent, more human, and far more personal than I expected.
I grew up with Fiddler with a very personal, memorable and meaningful connection. My cousin, Jerry Bock, who wrote the music for the play, would join our family gatherings, and would play and sing excerpts from the magnificent score. We all gathered around the piano and joined in the absolute joy of it all.
But this time, for me, what I witnessed during this extraordinary Asolo Rep production of Fiddler, was so much more than seeing a show, knowing the dialogue, or singing along with the songs.
What changed for me was not the story, but the experience surrounding it.
On April 22, I attended a performance with 75 high school students from North Port High School. On May 17, I returned with 115 Holocaust Survivors, their spouses, and aides. Though they experienced the performance on different days, I found myself deeply aware of the emotional thread connecting them.
Many of the Holocaust Survivors had fled the former Soviet Union and Ukraine, carrying memories of displacement and survival. Many of the students were also recent refugees from those same regions. As I moved between these two experiences, I was struck by how “Fiddler on the Roof” became something more than theater, it becomes a reflection of lived history, and it became everyone’s story.
Set in the fictional village of Anatevka, the tale of Tevye and his community speaks to tradition, change, and forced exile. Though set over a century ago, its themes feel painfully current. For me, it became less about watching a performance and more about witnessing echoes of real lives across generations.
As our guests left each performance, many of our local Holocaust Survivors, especially those from the Former Soviet Union and Ukraine, shared with me how deeply personal the story felt to them. For all of the Survivors who attended, the themes of displacement, resilience, tradition, persecution, hope, and survival were not abstract ideas but rather were representative of memories they have lived with and carried across generations and continents. To see those emotions and experiences reflected on stage and then afterwards in the Survivors’ words and tears, and in their expressed gratitude was incredibly powerful and deeply moving.
The same was true for the students who attended, including the few who will be performing “Fiddler” next year in their High School and the recent refugees from Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. Their reactions and conversations afterward made it clear that this was not just a performance they watched, but an experience they truly felt and connected to in a meaningful way.
I am deeply grateful to the Asolo Repertory Theatre for their extraordinary generosity in opening their doors to this educational and communal experience. Their commitment made it possible for both students and Survivors to engage with history through story and song in such a profound way.
I also want to thank the Federation’s Chief Development Officer, Hermione Gilpin, who working in partnership with the Asolo, helped bring this vision to life. Her efforts ensured that this was not simply an outing, but a profound moment of connection and learning.
What stayed with me most is this: history becomes most powerful when it is not only studied but felt. And even a story I thought I knew by heart opened up a whole new meaning as I experienced it through the lives of others.
L’chaim!
To learn more about the Holocaust Education Initiative, contact me at bzaret@jfedsrq.org.