“We’re together, baby- I was goin’ crazy till the miracle came through.  Now you’re here, and my arms are around you, and baby, there’ll be dancin’ in the streets.  For the miracle, a true blue spectacle, the miracle is you” (Manilow/Panzer, 1975)

What a wonderful feeling to be someone’s everything, to be someone’s miracle.

Welcome to the September -  October Edition ~   The Miracle of Young  Love in Fiddler on The Roof and Meet Me in St Louis.

At the turn of the 20th Century, five young women live in a culture dominated by traditions that dictate one’s place in society.  (“Who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix, preparing me to marry whoever Papa picks?  The daughters.” Fiddler on The Roof. )

For The Smith Sisters (Meet Me in St. Louis), it is unacceptable for girls to approach boys or speak to them without an introduction.  

So,  how are they to get what they want?

Teyve’s daughters can rely on a matchmaker to bring their miracle.  (“Matchmaker, Matchmaker, I’ll bring the veil, you bring the groom, slender and pale.  Bring me a ring, for I’m longing to be the envy of all I see.”)  Or because they have “no money, no dowry, no family background,”  something completely different.  (“Chava, I found him.  Won’t you be a lucky bride!  He’s handsome, he’s tall, that is from side to side.   Matchmaker, Matchmaker, you know that I’m still very young.  Please take your time.  Up to this minute, I misunderstood that I could get stuck for good.”)

The fear of getting “stuck for good” motivates the daughters to seek their own matches.

For Tzeitel, the perfect match is a poor tailor who deserves some happiness.  For  Hodel, a man with ideals will take her to Siberia and a different world.  (“He did not ask me to go.  I want to go to help him in his work.")

As the eldest daughters shine in the miracle of love (“of all G-d’s miracles, large and small, the most miraculous one of all is the one I thought could never be, G-d has given you to me.”), Teyve accepts that his ideas of tradition are changing.  However, as long as he has the power to give his blessing and permission to his daughter’s marriages,  he believes he “can bend that far.”

When the youngest daughter, Chava, finds love with Fyedka, a Christian Teyve cautions her with a parable: “A bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?  Each must seek  his own kind.” When Chava rejects his advice and tells him she and Fyedka will marry, he attempts to accept it  (“Look at my daughter’s eyes; she loves him.”) but cannot.  (“If I bend that far, I will break!”)

With this declaration, Chava must choose:  Her slender and pale groom?  Or her family?  Her choice will lead her to a new love in a new world.

New love is precisely what Esther Smith pines for, but she does not  have to look to a new world, only to  The Boy Next Door (“The moment I saw him smile, I knew he was just my style.  My only regret is we’ve never met.”), and her elder sister, Rose, to supply a written introduction.

An introduction together with  a bit of scheming (“I’ve decided to let John Truitt kiss me tonight.  If we’re going to get married, one of us has to start it!”), and coy flirtation (“Oh, do you live here?”) put Esther on the path to making her miracle.

Emboldened by her love for John Truitt (following a friendly handshake, a surprise kiss after a front porch tussle, a beautiful waltz, and a secret Christmas Eve proposal), Esther sets out to help Rose secure the object of her affection, Warren Sheffield.

Warren returns from Yale for the Christmas dance with Rose’s rival, Lucille Ballard.  Esther offers to fill Lucille’s dance card to separate her from Warren.  (“Oh, Es, you fiend!  Everyone’s a perfect horror!”)  But as Esther completes her scheme, Lucille steps forward with some honesty.  (“We’re all grown up, and if we’d only act that way, Warren would be here with Rose instead of spending the evening talking about you.”)  This honesty allows Warren to profess his love.  (“Rose Smith, we can’t go on like this any longer.  I’ve positively decided we’re going to get married at the earliest opportunity, and  I don’t want to hear any arguments.  That’s final.  I love you!”)

Love for all five of these women is the real miracle!

~~~Lori 

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