144 Harey ani keven shivim shonoh—“Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said, ’Lo, I am nearly seventy years old, and never did I know that one is obliged to mention the exodus at night until I heard it from ben Zoma.” From the Passover Haggadah.
145 Be’al korkhekho atoh khai.
146 Rotsoh hakodoysh borukh hu lezakoys.
147 Borukh merakheym al ha’orets—“Blessed is He Who hath mercy upon the earth.” From the prayer book.
148 Vayisu vayakhanu, vayakhanu vayisu—“And they journeyed and they camped, and they camped and they journeyed.” This is not an actual verse but rather Tevye’s version of the Biblical account of the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the desert, with its of trepeated formula of “And the Children of Israel journeyed from — and camped in—.”
149 Vayehi hayoym.
150 Shavuos. It was traditional among East European Jews to eat dairy foods on Shavuos, unlike other holidays, when meat (if affordable) was the preferred main course.
151 Lo blintzu avoyseynu bemitsrayim—Tevye has creatively taken the Biblical verse (Numbers, 10:5), “We remember the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic which we did eat in Egypt,” made a Hebrew verb out of the Yiddish word blintz, and said quite Biblically to Ahronchik, “My wife will serve you such blintzes fit for princes as our forefathers never blintzed in Egypt.”
152 Kesef vezohov ma’asey yedey odom—“The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.”—Psalms, 115:4.
153 Hashomayim shomayim ladoynai.
154 A Jew doesn’t ride on Shavuos — Among the activities that are prohibited to observant Jews on Sabbaths and most major holidays is traveling in any form except by foot.
155 Hashleykh al hashem—“Cast upon the Lord thy burden.” Psalms, 55:22.
156 Vayehi erev vayehi voyker.
157 “The wise man has eyes in his head.” Ecclesiastes, 2:14.
158 Holakh Moyshe-Mordekhai.
159 Raboys makhshovoys belev ish—“Many are the thoughts in a man’s heart but the counsel of the Lord shall prevail.” Proverbs, 19:21.
160 Keshoyshanoh beyn hakhoykhim—“As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” Song of Songs, 2:2.
161 Sheli shelkho and shelkho sheli—“What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.” Tevye is alluding to the saying in The Ethics of the Fathers that goes, “There are four kinds of men. [He who says,] ‘What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours’ is the average man … [He who says,] ‘What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours’ is the artless man. [He who says,] ‘What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is yours’ is the righteous man. [He who says,] What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine’ is the wicked man.”
162 There’s a time for everything, as King Solomon once said—“To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose.” Ecclesiastes, 3:1.
163 My tongue clove to my mouth, as the Bible says—“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my tongue cleave to my mouth.” Psalms, 137:5.
164 Koyl zman shehaneshomoh bekirbi—“As long as the soul is in me, I shall thank Thee, O God and God of my fathers.” From the daily morning prayer.
165 Two mountains never meet … — A rabbinic proverb.
166 Al tistakeyl bakankan.
167 Im kevonim im ka’avodim—“Judge us whether as [Thy] sons or as [Thy] servants: if as sons, pity us as a father pities his sons; and if as servants, our eyes are cast to Thy mercy.” From the Rosh Hashanah service. Tevye first wrenches the phrase out of its religious context and then, in his next sentence, restores it there.
168 Ki zeh koyl ha’odom—“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for that is the whole of man.” Ecclesiastes, 12:13.
169 Mah onu umeh khayeynu.
170 I hired a Jew to say the mourner’s prayer — During the year following a death in his immediate family, a male Jew is required to recite the kaddish, the mourner’s prayer, several times daily in the synagogue. (The kaddish is one of the few prayers that cannot be said in solitude.) Since there is no synagogue in Tevye’s village and a daily trip to Boiberik or Yehupetz is impractical, he has no choice but to pay someone else to say the prayer for him — a common practice in such circumstances.
171 Charm is a liar and Beauty a cheat—“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” Proverbs, 31:30.
172 Makdim rakhamim leroygez—“For all men believe that He is slow to anger: the Merciful One Whose pity comes before His wrath.” From the High Holy Day service.
173 Vayehi hayoym.
174 The name rings a bell from the Bible — Tevye is thinking of Gamliel the son of Pedahtsur, the head of the tribe of Menasheh. (Numbers, 2:20.)
175 Lanokhri toshikh—“Unto a stranger [Gentile] thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother [Israelite] thou shalt not.” Deuteronomy, 23:20. The Bible permits the Israelite to lend money at interest only to the non-Israelite, since to his brother he is commanded to lend it free; Tevye, however, humorously construes “usury” to mean bribery.
176 Lay orkhu hayomim—“Before many days went by.” A pseudo-verse: the phrase orkhu hayomim, “the days went by,” occurs in the Bible, but not in the negative.
177 Holakh Moyshe-Mordekhai.
178 Vayeyleykh khoronoh—“And he [Jacob] went to Haran.” Genesis, 28:10.
179 Mah zeh ve’al mah zeh—“Then Esther called for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains … and gave him a commandment to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was.” Esther, 4:5. Here Tevye makes a question of it, i.e., what’s the point of it all?
180 Lehoyshivi im nedivim—“He raiseth the poor man up out of the dust … that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.” Psalms, 113:7–8.
181 Royv godloy veroyv oshroy—“The multitude of his riches and wealth.” Tevye is misquoting, apparently unintentionally: the verse he has in mind (Esther, 5:11) reads, “And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him [gidloy; Tevye reads it godloy—“his wealth”].”
182 Lomoh zeh anoykhi—“And she [Rebecca] said, If it be so, why am I thus?” Genesis, 25:22.
183 Mah yoym miyomim—“What is [different about] this day among days?” A rabbinic expression.
184 Mekimi mi’ofor dal—“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust …” Psalms, 113:7. From the hallel prayer.
185 Meyashpoys yorim evyoyn—“ … And lifteth the needy out of the dunghill.” Psalms, 113:7.