Quite a while ago, a friend made a remark that I have carried with me and wrestled with to find an acceptable response. She grew up Catholic but left the Church and is now Universalist. She did not bring up her children in any religion because she felt they should choose their own. The remark she threw out that left me befuddled was "Traditions are bad. They keep you stuck in the past."
I was silent. Ever since, I have been searching for a good explanation to explain that traditions are important. This morning I read something in The Bible Companion, that is a help towards my understanding of tradition. Father Ronald D. Witherup, p.s.s., in quoting Elie Wiesel's The Gates of the Forest says:
When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezeritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say, "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to recite the prayer." And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sassov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hand, he spoke to God: "I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And. it was sufficient. God created man because he loves stories!
Traditions are carried down through the ages by oral stories, written stories, and edited stories. But they tell the story recounted generation after generation of what is important, whether in relation to God, as the tale above, or in a family, as in my family's turkey stuffing recipe, or in a community, as the rituals Bostonians go through for their baseball team, the Red Sox. Traditions are historical records to pass on to succeeding generations.
As Elie Wiesel's story illustrates, traditions are adapted, but the point is the point. So my friend is correct in saying that traditions hold you back. They can if they are not adapted. Traditions are important but times change: sometimes the Red Sox win and the traditional removal of the Bambino's curse is not needed. And my family complaints that the turkey stuffing has too many calories and not edible for the vegans in the family make me look for adaptions to the recipe. And biblical and church teachings grow in understanding and may have to be interpreted for different times. But the values that our traditions teach us remain.
I was silent. Ever since, I have been searching for a good explanation to explain that traditions are important. This morning I read something in The Bible Companion, that is a help towards my understanding of tradition. Father Ronald D. Witherup, p.s.s., in quoting Elie Wiesel's The Gates of the Forest says:
When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezeritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say, "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to recite the prayer." And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sassov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient." It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hand, he spoke to God: "I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And. it was sufficient. God created man because he loves stories!Traditions are carried down through the ages by oral stories, written stories, and edited stories. But they tell the story recounted generation after generation of what is important, whether in relation to God, as the tale above, or in a family, as in my family's turkey stuffing recipe, or in a community, as the rituals Bostonians go through for their baseball team, the Red Sox. Traditions are historical records to pass on to succeeding generations.
As Elie Wiesel's story illustrates, traditions are adapted, but the point is the point. So my friend is correct in saying that traditions hold you back. They can if they are not adapted. Traditions are important but times change: sometimes the Red Sox win and the traditional removal of the Bambino's curse is not needed. And my family complaints that the turkey stuffing has too many calories and not edible for the vegans in the family make me look for adaptions to the recipe. And biblical and church teachings grow in understanding and may have to be interpreted for different times. But the values that our traditions teach us remain.
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