By Gilad Atzmon

Many people are familiar with Fiddler on the Roof, the 1960’s musical set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. The Musical is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Dairyman) as well as other tales by Sholem Aleichem. The most memorable tune from this Jewish American musical was ‘If I Were a Rich Man’. I guess that not many would know that the musical was also translated into Hebrew and Yiddish. However, the translator of the Hebrew and Yiddish shows took some liberties in their adaptation; they decided to appeal to the Jewish imagination, by means of concretisation . ‘If I Were A Rich Man’ became, ‘If I Were A Rothschild.’

In this video clip you can witness and listen to the Yiddish performer cry for Mammon. That crude materialistic yearn is manifested both visually and lyrically - The clip is a real estate tour de force, you are invited to prospect the extended list of Rothschild Family’s Palaces. For some reason the Israeli Knesset is also presented towards the end. I guess that at least within the context of Jewish culture, the Jewish State and its Parliament is a Rothschild property.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUJcoWT_phQ