For many of us, who are only partially aware of the waiting culture, there has been the insightful experience of attending a theatrical performance of The Fiddler on the Roof or watching the motion picture based on this Broadway musical. The waiting for a messiah by members of a Jewish community living in a Russian shtetel (Anatevka) is embedded in the strong traditions of this community. There is a song cut from Fiddler on the Roof that was sung just as Tevye, and other members of his Jewish community who were forced by the Russian government to leave their homes.
The song concerns the waiting on the part of the citizens of Anatevka for the messiah. It specifically concerns the anticipation of some future reward and a better world that the Messiah will bring to the grieving Jews who have always been living in a precarious position (like the fiddler playing a tune on the steep roof of a home in the Jewish shtetel):
“Rabbi, we’ve been waiting our whole lives for the Messiah. Wouldn’t this be a good time for him to come?”
When Messiah comes he will say to us, / ”I apologize that I took so long, / But I had a little trouble finding you, / Over here a few and over there a few, / You were hard to reunite, but, / Everything is going to be alright/Up in heaven there, how I wrung my hands / When they exiled you from the Promised Land, / And to Babylon you went like castaways, / On the first of many many moving days, / What a day and what a blow, / How terrible I felt you’ll never know/Since that day, many men, / Said to us, “Get thee out!” / Kings they were, gone they are,/ We’re still here.
When Messiah comes he will say to us, / ”Don’t you think I know what a time you’ve had? / Now I’m here you’ll see how quickly things improve, / You won’t have to move unless you want to move, / You shall never more take flight, / Yes, everything is going to be alright.”
When Messiah comes he will say to us, / ”I was worried sick if you’d last or not, / And I spoke to G-d and said ‘Would that be fair, / If Messiah came and there was no-one there?’ / And the Lord replied to me, / ‘Wait, everything will be alright you’ll see.’/Many times, many men, / Took our homes, took our lives, / Kings they were, gone they are, / We’re still here./When Messiah comes and his reign begins, / Truth and justice then shall appear on earth./But if this reward we would be worthy of, / We must keep our covenant with G-d above, / So be patient and devout, / And gather up your things and get thee out.”
This powerful statement may have been a bit too theological for the Broadway musical audience; however, it speaks to the deeply held belief that a messiah will come, that the Jewish people need to be patient in waiting for the messiah, and that members of the Anatevka community will have to continue bearing the burden of a chosen people. There will be “truth and justice” (not just the personal happiness of the Christian heaven)—“just be patient and devout.”
A secular (or slightly veiled sacred) portrayal of the waiting process is to be found in Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot (Becket, 2011). In this famous and controversial existential play, two main characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), spend their days waiting for someone named Godot. Much as in the case of Jewish and Christian believers, these two protagonists believe Godot will provide them with salvation. They pass the time in the play with conversations, physical routines, and philosophical musings—often leaving the audience bored or impatient. While the audience is losing hope in the play, Didi and Gogo are losing faith that Godot will ever arrive.
