Kiev, Ukraine
Photo by Marjan Blan | @marjanblan on Unsplash
“Rabbi, rabbi is there a blessing for the Czar?”
“Yes, my son, God bless and keep the Czar…far away from us!”
From Fiddler on the Roof
Who amongst us theater geeks has not felt the tug at the emotions as Tevye, his family, and his neighbors pack what belongings they can carry to leave their home of Anatevka?
Nearly a hundred and twenty years later, the struggles still continue and people are fleeing an oppressive Russian tyrant.
The musical, based on “Tevye and his Daughters” by Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich — better known by his pen name, Sholom Aleichem — takes place in the fictional town of Anatevka, a more singable name for a town Aleichem modeled on the town of Boyarka near his birthplace in central Ukraine. And when the musical welcomes new arrivals, they tend to have traveled from the nearest big city, Kyiv.
NPR: If Russia’s invasion of Ukraine feels familiar, look to Broadway in the ’60s
Tevye has always been a dream role. Over forty years ago, I almost had the chance to play the part. But a misunderstanding of the text and the story prevented that. It’s a long story that might or might not one day
be in the book.
If you’re casting, I could still play the part.
But, hurry.
I was reminded last week that, while we’re all putting Ukrainian flags in our profiles and a certain blue and yellow have become fashion statements, we should also remember to pray for the Russian people.
I suspect that most of them do not want this conflict any more than the Ukranians.
It didn’t have to happen this way.
But I am no foreign policy expert.
I had my first above $4.00 gas siting yesterday.
It was far from being as exciting as spring’s first robin or daffodil.
Instead we’re looking to Iran and Venezuela.
It’s insane.
But let’s be clear, gas prices were rising BEFORE Russia invaded Ukraine. Don’t forget that.
It didn’t have to happen this way.
But I’m no domestic policy expert.
Outside my window, daffodils are peaking through the leaves that I still need to get up from last season.
The official arrival of spring is just a couple of weeks away. Temperatures are warm as I write this, but they’ll be falling soon.
I chuckled as a saw on Facebook a writer ask the local meteorologist if we were safe from overnight freezes. Hardly.
Late April, maybe.
But I’m no weather expert.
Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer, Lynn Redgrave, was born on this day in 1943. (d. 2010)
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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY
1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1935)
1921 – Alan Hale Jr., American actor and restaurateur (d. 1990)
WHAT I’M READING
BENEDICTION
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26