Fiddler Tales is a joyful mosaic of stories set to music and wrapped around many of life’s most enduring themes – friendship, family, courage, love and trust.   Imbued with the art of storytelling and in the tradition of Sholom Aleichem (“Fiddler on the Roof”), this collection of tales comes to life through the narration of a peddler who passes through the village of Zlodievka each week.   In each house there is a story.  Some of these he shares with us.  Each is filled with wit and wisdom, a twinkle and a grin.

	The first story, “It Could Always Be Worse,” humorously offers new perspectives on solving a problem and seeing one’s situation in a new light.  “Something From Nothing” explores the value of family legacy and enables us to observe resourcefulness and creativity at work from generation to generation. In “Gimpel From Chelm” as well as “On Account Of A Hat” we witness illogical logic at it’s best – for every question there is an answer and conversely, for every answer, there is a question!

While much of the folklore in this treasury of stories dates back to the 1500’s, the  characters remain fresh and current in their needs and values. A mother wants to do what’s best for her family. An heirloom is cherished from generation to generation. Earnest bumbling is as charming as it is funny – and in the end it is always ingenious.

But the universal appeal of each of these stories ultimately comes not only from the joy in the telling, but from the comfort in knowing that whatever is broken can be fixed, that hope can triumph over despair, that we will survive, no matter what the odds and somehow find the courage to go on!  Perhaps even a bit wiser than before.