TRADITION!

Traditions. We have them. We run into trouble when we teach them as the commandments of God. Let us be careful and sober minded about our traditions, willing to examine them and cast aside those that cause people to stumble.

Tevye, Jewish patriarch in Fiddler on the Roof...

 

It’s a very busy, tedious, hard-scratch life in Anatevka. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word!             Tradition!

 

Because of our traditions, we've kept our balance for many, many years. Here in Anatevka, we have traditions for everything. How to sleep. How to eat. How to work. How to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered, and always wear a little prayer shawl. This shows our constant devotion to God.

 

You may ask, how did this tradition get started? I'll tell you. I don't know.

 

But it's a tradition. And because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as,   As...  As a fiddler on the roof!

 As his family responds to the various circumstances of life, they each tear apart Tevye’s sacred traditions bit by bit. His traditions were not transcendent; their foundation was uncertain. 

This message can be listened to here.