Tradition!
Mandy and I have been watching the classic “Fiddler on the Roof” over the past few days. While I typically shy away from musicals, I have always liked this particular one. I have memories of singing some of the ditties with my father as a child. One song creeps up constantly throughout the movie — the song Tradition! The song speaks of the various traditions that the Jews in Russia adhere to. A theme of the movie, though, is the breaking of tradition.
At the beginning of the movie, Tevye, the father, makes a funny comment. He says that they adhere to tradition — the men always have their heads covered. “You may ask,” he says, “how did this tradition get started? I’ll tell you… I don’t know.”
Throughout the movie there are so many traditions that are adhered to and yet Tevye seems unable to explain why those traditions are kept. The traditions enable, so he says, everyone to know who they are and what God expects from them. Coincidentally, I happened upon this passage this week:
Mark 7:1-2, 5-9 — Now when the Pharisees gathered to Him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of His disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed… And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And He said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandments of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And He said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!”
The point Jesus makes is clear: obeying God is more important than tradition. How we interpret this, though, is tricky. Is all tradition bad? Can any tradition be good? If it were up to me, I would recommend three simple rules to ascertain whether a tradition is worth following.
First, and most importantly, the tradition should be consistent with the commandments of God. This is specifically what Jesus addresses in Mark 7. Any tradition that is contrary to God’s commandments should be quickly avoided.
Second, the tradition should be reasonable. I mean this literally: there should be a reason behind the tradition. Any tradition that appears not have any reason behind it should be examined. In the movie, Tevye confesses not knowing why the Jewish men covered their heads at all times. For him, the tradition had no reason, and therefore seems irrational. A little examination, though, shows that the tradition of Jewish male head coverings may have originated with the desire to protect the female manifestation of God — the Shekhinah — from seeing their bare heads below Her. Traditions should add meaning to ourselves and our relationship with God; they should reinforce the teachings.
Thirdly, the tradition should be carefully mandated. The larger the group, the fewer traditions should be demanded. It seems that the smaller the group, the safer it is to mandate a tradition. An individual, for example, can adhere to all the traditions they would like to. Similarly, a family or small group of believers can choose for themselves together what traditions to follow. Leaders of larger congregations should be very choosy about what is mandated. A tradition that is followed without meaning can quickly turn into a blind ritual.
I realize these points are strictly my opinions. My conclusion is that all mandated traditions must be enthusiastically taught. Education must be a relevant part of tradition. If you want to embrace a new tradition, study it first. If you find yourself adhering to a tradition that you do not understand, spend a few minutes studying it. May our focus remain on God!
Comments