Malamud's The Fixer

Just started it (it rules) and am already noticing ties to Aleichem's Tevye; namely, how is one a Jew when his or her profession is not ''Jewish"? Tevye is a farmer, and Yakov a repairman--they aren't Talmudists!

We shall default to Mordecai Kaplan's inclusive and proto-postmodern rubric: all Jews service Jewish civilization just by being and doing. Yakov and Tevye are notably aware of their vocations and roles in life, and, more simply, their identities as Jews. Sounds good enough to me!