OCtober 2007
Regional News
East Bay
TRADITION!, Tevye sang in Fiddler on the Roof. Everyone gets a warm familiar feeling hearing the song. It sounds so… traditional. What is this thing, tradition?
At the late night study for S’lichot (a pre-Rosh Hashanah service) at my synagogue the rabbi asked us to break into groups and discuss what “tradition” means to us. Each group essentially said the same thing: Tradition is the way my family has always done it. So the tune your mom made up to get you up in the morning, that’s tradition for you. The little record (yes, vinyl) that my sister-in-law played before Passover Seder as she and her sisters were growing up, that’s tradition for her. It’s the pumpkin pie recipe your grandmother passed down to you – it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.
Why do we come up with traditions? Early Childhood Educator Iris Greenbaum says that children learn through stories. You can tell a child to “be fair,” “take turns,” or “don’t lie;” but the way that children learn and assimilate this information is through a story. Each tradition has its own stories with which it clothes the value being taught. So a Jewish child will be taught a story about the Exodus and a Christian child will be taught a story about Jesus. Will they as adults know each other’s story? Yes. But one story set will belong to them and they, to it. Tradition is the clothes we wear that give us our identity, our group affiliation, our belonging.
Can you make new traditions? Absolutely! Every generation and every family does. Want to talk about which traditions you are practicing or want to introduce to your family? Feel free to contact me.
Dawn Kepler
Building Jewish Bridges: Outreach to Interfaith Couples
510-839-2900 or dawn@jfed.org
http://www.jfed.org/section.html?id=1141
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