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It’s About Tradition

12/17/2020 10:15:24 AM

Dec17

Beth Schafer

Recently Rabbi Levenberg and I were leading a ceremony where the Bar/Bat Mitzvah family is given the opportunity to offer an impromptu blessing for his/her child. One of the grandfathers said to the boy, “Each generation does this and now it’s your turn.” I thought it was such an empowering moment for the young man.

After the service the grandfather came up to me and in amazement said, “Gosh, I really don’t know how these kids do all that,” to which I replied, “Well just like in your blessing to him, you said you did it, his father did it and now it was his turn,” to which the grandfather then said, “I’m Catholic, I was talking about his other grandfather.”

It was such a poignant blessing from someone who wasn’t even sure what he was about to experience when his own grandson ascended the bima. What this grandfather values, more than the actual “stuff” of the Bar Mitzvah, is tradition. It is that sense of family tradition that draws it closer to each of its members and through the generations. As much as I love the particulars of Judaism, I equally love the idea of repeating things, returning to things that build comfort and closeness to my family and community. And as life unfolds, there are always opportunities to build new traditions as our circles broaden or change.

As we find ourselves in this time between Chanukah and Christmas, let us give thanks for tradition. Whether our households or social groups include a single faith or multiple faiths, let us lean in to the traditions, both old and new, that make us feel connected and loved.

Shabbat shalom,

Beth

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784