What specific aspects of the movie do you think best illustrated the familial relationships and traditions that are so important in Jewish culture? Do you think those two elements benefitted the Jews during the Holocaust or did they benefit their destroyers? In other words, would close family ties and a strong sense of tradition have helped the Jews survive the Holocaust or would they have instead served to make them more vulnerable?
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
10 comments:
I think that the strong sense of tradition both hurt and helped the Jewish people during the Holocaust. It helped them stick together when needed most, and kept them who they were when everyone was trying to change them. However, because they are considered God's chosen people, they were used to being persecuted and did not stand up to the Nazis as they should have. They turned their cheek to it, because lets face it, no one knew just how far Hitler would go.
I agree with Lillie. Since they did have a realy strong sence of tradition, then Hitler probobly knew that he could basically get away with anything that he wanted. Also I remember doing the play back in middle school, now I wasn't in it but I helped designe the props and stage so I knew alot about the play in its self but so far I Think that the movie is much better.
Steven Christison
This was actually the first time I had ever seen "The Fiddler on the Roof"(sorry,don't know how to underline on this thing).In English class last semester, we read "The Chosen," which gave me a kind of insight to this movie & Jewish customs. The Jews are very keen on tradition, as the movie repeated countless times,represented by prayer shawls, earlocks, & relationship traditions. If you go back to the Holocaust and look at riots the Jews threw and the way they took up for one another, it is apparent that they were very close-knit. I do not think that because they were so close, they were vulnerable & unable to stand up for themselves but were just dealt a bad hand. It could have been anyone, but Hitler & Hitler alone picked out who should live & who should die.
I believe that because the Jews survived as long as some of them did was because they were very close-knit. If they didn't have the relationships that they had with family and friends, I think they would have given up all hope. Last year, I read a book written by a Holocause survivor called "The Cage" saying that they stayed with their traditions when they could even in the concentration camps. That alone tells me they loved their traditions.
I also agree with Lillie. Traditions had both a positive and negative effect on Jewish communities during the Holocaust. Traditions kept the Jewish people together and gave them the sense of unity, however, they also prevented them from seeing the problems occuring within and beyond their communities.
Like Jenna I've also read "The Chosen", and as "Fiddler on the Roof" does also, it explains the importance and significance of tradition to Jews. I believe the bond that Jews had with traditon and amongst themselves was the small, lit, match that carried them through the darkest, longest tunnel of the Holocaust. However, it was also the weak, light that blew out for some of them.
~Lydia
I don't think that their strong sense of family and tradition made them more vulnerable, I think it made them stronger and even last longer. I think it helped them to get through everything when they had their families with them. I don't think tradition had anything to do with them while in the camps. I mean I don't think that they really could preform them in their situation, unless it was very secret. Also, on Lillie's comment,I don't think they really could stand up to the Nazi's and Hitler. Those who did were killed on the spot. I think a lot of the responsibilty of not stopping Hitler goes to those who it didn't effect, they should have noticed something wasn't right when they started putting the Jews in the ghettos.
I agree with Lillie. I think that it helped them because without somebody with you, you would have nothing to live for. But it also hurt them because they {Nazi's and Hitler} knew how close the families were. That is why they kept them seperate. And I also think that they hung this fact over their head. Like "If you don't do this you'll never see your family again," sort of thing.
Some of the traditions I noticed in the movie were positive in the Jewish community, but also negative. Like Lillie and Krisheena said, the traditions made bonds between the Jewish communities helping them stay strong. This helped the Jewish families make it through the Holocaust staying true to their beliefs. In some cases, these traditions were followed so thoroughly that it worked againsted the Jewish communities in a sense that they were blind to the problems happening within themselves.
I agree with Lillie. I think that their traditions and values both hurt and helped them during the Holocaust. Having such strong traditions helped them to remember who they were and reminded them that they should stand up for what they believed in. At the same time though, it made them stick out, which made it easier for the Nazi's to determine if they were Jewish or not.
-Casey Correia
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