The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman Audiobook By Sholem Aleichem cover art

The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman

By: Sholem Aleichem
Narrated by: Theodore Bikel
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.96

Buy for $13.96

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel
The internationally renowned star of Fiddler on the Roof brings the original stories of Tevye to life! Tevye personified the dreams not only of Russian Jews but of people everywhere when he sang "If I Were a Rich Man." And for millions around the world, Theodore Bikel personified Tevye. Now hear the original stories of Tevye, as written by Sholem Aleichem (pen name of Sholem Rabinovich): "Today's Children," "Hodl," "Chava," and "Lekh-Lekho," the stories which were the basis for Fiddler, plus "Tevye Strikes It Rich" and "Tevye Blows a Small Fortune." Reacquaint yourself with the buoyant, ingenious, compassionate, irrepressible, anxious, philosophical, God-loving, God-fearing dairyman, who embodies the simple and joyous, difficult and sometimes dangerous world of the Eastern European Jews during a time of sweeping historical change.©1987 by Shocken Books, Inc., Translated With the Permission of the Family of Sholem Aleichem (P)1995 by Audio Renaissance Tapes, a Division of Cassette Productions Unlimited, Inc. Classics Drama & Plays Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Masterful Storytelling • Touching Human Stories • Superb Performance • Humorous Narrative • Rich Cultural Heritage
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Warm, funny and heart-touching! Stories of Tevye on which Fiddler on the roof is based. Excellent narration.

Simply heautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
These stories are essential to the Ashkenazi Jewish self-image and mythos. This is the backbone of the Fiddler On The Roof script. The narrator, Theodore Bikel, does a fantastic job. A great listen!

A Classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

As a series of stories written in the first person, this is clearly a work that is improved as an audiobook, especially as the story is told by a top-notch actor, Theodore Bikel. So much more of Sholem Aleichem's humor and pathos is expressed in this reading that could easily be missed in a quick reading of the stories alone.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Stories of Tevye the Dairyman?

There were many. I especially enjoyed Tevye's misquotes of Bible and Talmud.

Which character – as performed by Theodore Bikel – was your favorite?

Clearly it was Tevye as the main character. However, Bikel's reading was so good, it was easy to tell one character from another.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Origin of "Fiddler on the Roof"

Bikel's reading improves masterpiece of literature

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Don't worry about the poor audio on the sample, the download is fine. I am using quality 4 (because I have an old iPod) and there are no problems. I own this on cassette, so I knew that the performance was fantastic. Theodore Bikel knows how to deliver Tevye. If you love Fiddler on the Roof, this is a great way to get the stories that inspired the musical.

Bikel is fantastic as Tevye

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Depth, heart, substance, faith, family, joys, heartaches, all this and Theodore Bikel! A joy to listen to, not a novel but genuine stories via master storyteller.

Category all its own

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story and the performance touched me. growing up in Ukraine and seeing what is going on there now makes the story even more relevant and appealing. it has lots of humour but it's very sad to listen. Tevye has a big and kind heart. and so much resilience despite the human cruelty he had to experience. huge thanks.

A powerful performance!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
These beautiful stories deserve to be told and retold, and who can do it better than Mr. Bikel, who is practically as legendary now as Tevye himself? Literature as the story of life, up and down, with miracles and yet so often caught in the crossroads of history: Every human heart will be touched by such stories!

magic team: sholem aleichem and theodore bikel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Was assigned to read a few of these chapters for a college class but ended up loving the whole thing. Great performance. Great story. Don’t worry, the sound quality is great, don’t know what’s up with the sample. If you are picking between this version and the version on audible called “tevye the milkman” I’d say go with this one

Lovely

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Bikel does a wonderful job at reading this book. His pronunciations are superb as are the inflections in his voice. He’s a real yid reading about yids. And of course the story’s are all very entertaining. If you love the stories of Sholom Aleichem, like I do, give this reading a listen!

Theodore Bikel nails it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Want to reiterate that while the sample audio sounds awful-- like a worn-out cassette recorded off a boom box-- the actual download is FINE, zero issues with the sound quality and Bikel's performance is superb. Start here with your audio Aleichem journey.

Aleichem x Bikel = Brilliance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews