Fiddler on the Roof

I love this musical/movie for several reasons, among them:
1. kickass clarinet parts
2. fun music
3. beautiful story

Also, it raises interesting theological and/or philosophical questions. Tevye spends the entire duration of the musical talking to God. His relationship with God is front and center, and meanwhile everything else that happens is secondary. (Isn't it interesting that most of us live our lives the opposite way? Everything that happens in life is the focus of all of our energy, and we give God whatever we have left over?) I think it offers honest insight into the hearts and minds of anyone who has a relationship with God, whether it be the Jewish idea of God or the Christian idea of God. For example:

-- Tevye asks if it would "spoil some vast eternal plan" if he had a "small fortune;" in essence, blaming God for the fact that he is poor. (Quote: "With your help, I'm starving to death.")
-- Blaming God for plagues, wars, etc. instead of understanding that disease is a natural part of being alive and wars are actually started by people.
-- Blaming God for the misfortune of his people, which is actually caused by the Russians.
-- Blaming God for his horse's hurt leg. They don't show how the horse's leg got hurt, but maybe Tevye was working him too hard?

Also, to Tevye's credit, none of this weakens his faith or relationship with God. He may be complaining a lot, but he still trusts God with his life.

Anyway, I think it is interesting to see how humans perceive God. If God is good, I should have plenty of money and material comforts. If God is good, I should never get sick. If God is good, he should stop people from picking on me. But this is rarely the case, isn't it? (ESPECIALLY for the Jews?) After all, at what point does God promise an easy life? It's interesting to see how our skewed image of God as some great cosmic Santa Claus wreaks havoc on our faith.