‘Fiddler on the Roof’ may be many Americans’ image of Judaism – but American Jews’ heritage is stunningly diverse

Students prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs at a camp for Jewish children of color in California. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin by Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder “Tradition!” rings out the opening line of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the Broadway play that brought Jewish life to stages around the world. The 1964 musical gives audiences a window into Yiddish-speaking, rural Jewish life in 19th-century Europe. For many people, this image represents Jewish history as a whole. When most Americans think of Jews, they think of Ashkenazi Jews: a term that refers to people of eastern and northern European Jewish culture. In American culture, Ashkenazi Jews are represented by cultural icons ranging from Tevye the dairyman and Yente the matchmaker in “Fiddler” to comedians Woody Allen and Sarah Silverman and author Philip Roth. While Ashkenazi Jews do make up the majority of American Jews, the Jewish world is much more diverse that this picture suggests – including in the United States. The diversity of American Jews is a major focus of my own research: both through my current project, Jews of Color: Histories and Futures, and in my book about interfaith families, “Beyond Chrismukkah.” The depiction of Jewish culture in...