arts & culture
‘Fiddler’ Documentary
Celebrates Jewish Goy
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
“F iddler’s Journey to the Big
Screen” is a documentary
about the non-Jewish fi lm
director, Norman Jewison, who turned
the classic story and play, “Fiddler on the
Roof,” into an Oscar-winning movie.

In our simplistic culture of today,
Jewison’s role might have risen to the
level of controversy. Th ere might have
been a social media cycle about how
the director was “appropriating” Jewish
culture. Or, if there wasn’t, someone like
Sarah Silverman probably would have
argued that there should have been.

“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen,”
though, is a 2022 documentary out on
Amazon Prime that dares to celebrate
Jewison for his celebration of the Jewish
people. And make no mistake: Th e man
deserves to be celebrated. What the
director did, as the doc’s director Daniel
Raim shows by focusing on Jewison
as his primary subject, was bring the
Sholem Aleichem story and Joseph Stein
play to a mass audience.

Chaim Topol, the actor who plays the
main character Tevye in the 1971 fi lm,
From left: Chaim Topol and Norman Jewison brought “Fiddler on the Roof”
to the silver screen in 1971.

Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films
explains to Raim at one point that more
than 1 billion people saw “Fiddler on
the Roof.” Th e adaptation made more
than $80 million at the box offi ce and
received eight Oscar nominations.

Its power, as several people explain
in “Fiddler’s Journey,” is in its ability to
both explain Jewish culture and capture
timeless themes. Tevye is a classic Jewish
shtetl character; he’s committed to tradi-
tion, he maintains a dialogue with God
and he’s concerned about the wellbeing
of his daughters. At the same time, he’s
a character that any parent can relate to.

As the song “Sunrise, Sunset” portrays in
moving fashion, it’s hard when your kids
get old, when you have to let them go
and when you grow to understand that
everything is ephemeral.

As a non-Jewish artist who appreci-
ated Jewish culture, Jewison saw and
understood that duality. He was also
able to convey it through an art form,
movies, built for an audience of all reli-
gions. He was just the man for this job.

Raim, a documentary fi lmmaker who
was born in Israel, interviewed several
other people involved in the making of
this classic, including Topol. But while
they all add a lot, this story is about
Jewison, whose story starts, fi nishes and
forms the spine of the 88-minute movie.

When he was a boy, the director’s
classmates in Toronto mistook him for
being Jewish due to his last name. Aft er
guiding the Oscar-winning “In the Heat
of the Night” in 1967, Jewison got the
chance to helm “Fiddler.” But he was
worried that the studio executives were
making the same mistake his classmates
once made. So, he told them he was a
goy. Th ey said that was why they wanted
him. Th ey felt he could transcend the
Jewish audience of the story and play,
both of which were written by Jews.

Raim then implies that the success of
“Fiddler” made Jewison feel a sense of
pride in his adopted identity. Over the
rest of the fi lm, Jewison recounts a story
of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir
wiping away a tear during a screening
and of a later visit to the father of mod-
ern Israel, David Ben-Gurion, who tells
him that anyone “crazy enough to want
to be Jewish” is. Finally, late in the docu-
mentary, Raim shows footage of Jewison
winning a lifetime achievement award
at the 1999 Oscars. He gets up on stage
and says, “Not bad for a goy.”
Truer words have nary been spoken
in the history of Jewish fi lm. Th ey
could have formed the doc’s tagline. JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
18 JUNE 23, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



food & dining
Going Coconuts!
KERI WHITE | SPECIAL TO THE JE
I adore coconut. I love the fl avor and
texture, and I love that it is vegan/
pareve and can be used to make
delicious nondairy desserts.

I love that it is versatile and is spec-
tacular on its own but also pairs well
with chocolate and fruit and caramel
and vanilla ... need I go on? I think not.

Th e desserts below refl ect my admira-
tion of this delicious drupe (yes, drupe;
that is the classifi cation of fruit that
coconut falls into.) Th e fi rst recipe is a
riff on tres leches cake and, although
this version is dairy as it contains con-
densed milk, this ingredient can be
swapped out for “cream of coconut,”
a sweetened, syrupy coconut product.

Be sure to pay attention to the diff erent
coconut cans — cream of coconut is
sweet; coconut cream is a richer, fattier
unsweetened coconut milk; and coco-
nut milk is also unsweetened.

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Dos leches cake
This message is sponsored by a friend of
Nat’l Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases
Association of Delaware Valley
Makes 1 square cake, about 9 servings.

For the dos leches soak:
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
or cream of coconut (sweetened)
1 cup unsweetened coconut cream
or coconut milk, well stirred to an
even consistency
Photos by Keri White
For the toasted coconut topping:
1 cup sweetened, fl aked coconut
Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease an 8-inch square pan.

Mix the fl our, salt, baking soda and
baking powder in a medium bowl.

Set aside.

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SCREENING CALL (215)887-0877
FOR DETAILS
Dos Leches Cake
For the cake:
2 cups cake fl our or sifted all-
purpose fl our
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
½ cup coconut oil (microwave for
10 seconds to make it liquid)
¾ cup granulated sugar
4½ tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract
F TAY-SACHS
REE Coconut rice pudding
Mix the water, coconut oil, sugar,
vinegar, vanilla and coconut extracts
in a small bowl.

Add the wet mixture to the dry
mixture and stir to blend.

Pour it into the pan, and bake it
for 30-35 minutes. When the cen-
ter springs back to the touch and a
toothpick comes out clean, it is done.

Cool the cake completely and
poke the top of the cake with a chop-
stick or fork to make holes all over to
allow the “leches” to soak it.

While the cake cools, mix the dos
leches soak ingredients, making sure
that the texture is even and smooth.

When the cake is completely cool,
slowly pour the milk mixture over the
cake, letting it seep into the holes.

While the cake is “soaking,” toast the
fl aked coconut. Heat a large, nonstick
skillet on medium-high, and pour the
coconut in the pan. It should be spread
in a single layer; do in two batches
if the coconut is too deep. Stir with
a spatula constantly as the coconut
toasts; watch it carefully, as it goes from
raw to burnt quickly. When the coconut
is golden brown and crisp, remove it
from the pan and let it cool on a plate.

When you are ready to serve the
cake, sprinkle the toasted coconut
over the top.

Coconut Rice Pudding
Serves 2 generously
This is a great thing to do with left-
over rice. It is also pareve/vegan,
which makes it a useful dessert for
kosher diners looking for a creamy
rich pudding after a meat meal.

It is delightful served warm, equally
lovely cold and can stand alone, be
topped with fresh fruit, a drizzle of
chocolate, some chopped nuts or
toasted coconut (see above recipe
for technique). Adding a scoop of
coconut oil at the end brings a rich-
ness and depth to the pudding, but if
you are cutting fat and calories, this
can be omitted.

1 cup cooked rice (I used basmati
because it was left over from my
Indian dinner)
1 can coconut milk, well stirred
⅓ cup brown sugar or white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon coconut extract
1 tablespoon coconut oil
½ cup toasted fl aked coconut
Mix the rice, coconut milk and
sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring it
to a simmer, and let it cook for about
15 minutes, stirring occasionally until
thickened. Remove it from the heat, and add
the extract and coconut oil; stir.

Serve warm or chilled, topped with
toasted coconut. JE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 19