We all know that context is critical. Life is a study in contrasts. Something that is positive in one context may be negative in another. Let’s use a positive test result as an example. If the test was a school entrance exam, a positive result would be wonderful. If the test was to determine whether one had a virus, a positive result would be anything but positive.
In Hayom Yom, the Rebbe offers a study in contrasts regarding a common character trait. “In material matters, one who is "satisfied with his lot" is an individual of the highest quality… In spiritual matters, however, to be satisfied with one's lot is the worst deficiency, and leads, Gād forbid, to descent.”
I would like to examine the idea of “tradition” through this lens. In Judaism, tradition, or “Mesorah,” occupies a lofty perch. Much of Halacha is based on the transmission of principles and practices going back through the ages all the way to Moses and Mt. Sinai. Does that mean that anything that any group of people do for a long time is automatically deemed a valuable practice? What if it was based on an error or a mistaken application of an idea? I recall praying in a certain Synagogue many times and wondering why they added an extra Mourners Kaddish where one was not called for in any other Prayer Tradition. I asked the regulars, and they said that this is what they have been doing for as long as they can remember. After digging into it a little further, we figured out how the mistake evolved and that tradition dissipated.
On the other hand, we often find in Halachic discussion, that when an authority in Jewish law argues that their ruling is based on an established Mesorah (tradition), this is regarded as more compelling than even a logical defense of the ruling. So, it really depends on the roots of the tradition. There is an expression that an idea is “Yesudato B’harerei Kodesh” – one whose foundation is on the mountains of the Sanctuary, to paraphrase Psalm 87. This means that it has lofty and holy origins. When something is rooted in positivity and holiness that is a good tradition. However, when the roots are rotten…
In my recent interviews with NOLA candidates, a recurring theme has been that New Orleans has to stop accepting traditions that do not serve us well. Just because we have had potholes and bad city services for so long doesn’t mean that those traditions are rooted in “Holy Mountains.” Just because “we have always done it this way” doesn't mean that we have to keep doing it that way if it is not serving us well.
As each of us prepares for the New Year and we engage our personal reckoning, let us uproot (pun intended) those less than desirable things about ourselves which we have come to accept because that’s way we have always done it. We can introduce alternative traditions that are rooted in “Holy Mountains.” Doing so will give us all a fresh start to a year blessed by Hashem with all that we need and desire for good.
Shana Tova and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin