Tevye: Wonderful Man. . . Not a Karaite Image Source: Broadway/San Diego Blog
In the 1998 classic film, The Big Lebowski, the Dude (played by Jeff Bridges) accuses Walter Sobchek (played by John Goodman) of not being Jewish. Walter lashes back with one of the tirades for which his character is known, culminating in a proclamation: “I’m as Jewish as . . . Tevye!”
Tevye, of course, is the patriarch of an orthodox Jewish family in one of the greatest musicals of all time, Fiddler on the Roof. Walter’s response to the Dude conveys what most people inherently believe to be true: Tevye is the personification of an observant Jew.
Tevye has a beard. He wears traditional tzitzit. He covers his head at (just about) all times. His family dresses tsniyus.
