If I Were a Rich Man or Women

The first time I saw Fiddler on the Roof is right after I got married.  For free entertainment (we were college kids) we would borrow DVD's from the library to watch for our date nights.   Now that Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu, there's no need for free library DVD rentals, hum...maybe I could save a few bucks if we reverted to the library...!  I'll have to think about that one.

I love this movie, it's an oldie but goodie.  You have to remember it was filmed in the 70's, and depicts the life of a Jewish Russian family and village in the early 1900's.  It teaches some hard lessons to kids, at least those who can sit through it.  My 8 year old sat through it and had some great questions afterward.  We were able to talk about freedom, history, culture, and religion.  It is a lovely story of tradition, and while tradition is great, but evolves.  Some see this evolution of tradition as great, others do not.

Tevye, the main charactor, and dad of the story, has a passion for his religion, his family, and his community.  In his "If I were a rich man" song,   I love his dancing in the barn with his beloved animals, his dibby dibby dum's.  Get up, raise your hands and dance while singing along the dibby dibby dum's.  Not only will you be in a better mood, you will want Tevye to be a rich man too!  Tevye also passionately sings in this song all the things he would do if he were rich: the service he would provide the Rabbi, the spiritual enlightenment he would obtain, and the double chin his wife would have (I mean...yes please!).  

Tevye's question to his God is:  "Lord who made the lion and the lamb, You decreed I should be what I am.  Would it spoil some vast eternal plan?  If I were a wealthy man."  In other words, if I were rich right now, would it make a big difference in my life I'm living?  I mean Tevye would have a fat wife, a happy rabbi, and more animals - all good things, so why not be rich now?  Why is he not rich?  Why are others rich, or inherit riches and most have to work to just get food on the table, let alone anything else?

Here's some statistics that may change your mind about instant wealth.  According to Wolf Street, 1 out of every 3 people that win the lottery end up declaring bankruptcy.  That's one third,  that's a little less than half.  That's a lot of people.  CNBC says that the 1/3 of these bankrupt lottery winners go broke 3 to 5 years after winning.  Other studies show that winning the lottery does not make you happier.  According to Jonnelle Marte from the Washington Post "Evidence shows that most people who make it to the top 1 percent of income earners usually don’t stay at the top for very long."  She says this in referring to those who won the $1.6 billion Powerball.  Basically, the lottery can make a person miserable.

If you don't have a plan with your money when you make $30,000, or even $80,000 - how would you know how to handle $1.6 billion?  If Tevye were given $1.6 billion, I'm sure his wife, rabbi and animals would be fat and happy, but would Tevye be the same man?  Would he still happily dance around his land delivering milk to his community?  I'm only thinking of this time of Tevye singing in the barn, not the entire movie (if you haven't seen it these people are asked to move because of their religion - I'm sure a billion dollars defiantly could have changed that).  Tevye is happy man with what he has.  His daughter is happy married to a poor Taylor, instead of the rich butcher that had been arranged.  I'm not indicating money keeps people from happiness, but it can ruin it if you aren't prepared.

So would being rich "spoil some vast eternal plan" or ruin the rest of your life?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or on my insta.

Also, Fiddler on the Roof is on Netflix right now.  It's almost 3 hours long, you're welcome.