For the second year in a row, Missouri Baptist University is melding their theatre program with Southern Baptist efforts to bring a positive gospel influence to a world broken by war.
Last spring, through its production of Neil Simon’s play, “Fools,” MBU’s theatre program raised more than $3,000 to support Southern Baptist SEND Relief efforts amid the war in Ukraine.
Now, as Israel is entangled in war with Hamas, MBU’s theatre program will support SEND Relief — the compassion ministry of the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board — in the Holy Land. Funds will be raised through their Nov. 9–12th stage production of the classic musical, “Fiddler on the Roof.”
RELATED: Check out more stories on the Israel-Hamas war here.
“‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is a beloved musical for many, many people,” Kasey Cox, MBU director for theatre and dance, told The Pathway. The play depicts the joys and sorrows of a small community of Jews living around the year 1905 in the fictional Imperial Russian village of Anatevka.
When most people think about the show, Cox said, they remember “the big joyful moments.”
“But, really, at its core,” she added, “‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is a musical about a community of people who, through their traditions, stay connected, grounded and joyful in the face of antisemitism and persecution.” At the time, Imperial Russian society inflicted violent pogroms against Jewish communities, sometimes forcing them into exile.
“In the musical,” she said, “Tevye struggles to keep his traditions as the world changes around him and as the choices of his three oldest daughters and growing anti-Jewish sentiment threaten to throw him off-balance,” Cox said.
As such, when the MBU theatre group saw antisemitism show its face in the Hamas attacks on Israel and even in some people’s responses to the war, they were eager to support SEND Relief’s efforts to respond to the crisis.
Ways to give
For more information on how you can help, check with your church, association or state Baptist convention to find out how they are contributing to ongoing relief efforts in Israel, your state and beyond. For more information about Send Relief, click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Benjamin Hawkins and originally published by the Pathway.
