Our goal with this blog today is to inspire and help you grow in your understanding of tradition and its importance today! It is important to broaden our understanding of all peoples tradition to help ourselves grow. COVID-19 may have put a dampener on peoples traditions with the community, but hopefully we still found some purpose in ourselves even when traditions had to adapt in this year. This is such an important time to remind ourselves who we are, and why we are here. We are all able to learn from one another every single day, and show the amount of passion we have for the things that we believe in. For some, it may sound effortless to talk about the things you believe in and the traditions you have kept alive. For others, it may take some courage to be open about those same exact things. Learning about the stories and traditions of our peers is one step we can take to fill our world with more empathy and kindness. At the end of the day, we are all together as one.
Tess:
My whole life I have grown up Catholic, and every year my family and I look forward to going to the special Holy Week events and masses! But this year, for the first time in (probably) all of our lives, no one was physically allowed to go.
On Holy Thursday I watched mass from my basement and just like my family would do at physical mass, we washed each other’s feet as Jesus did at His Last Supper. At first I was honestly scared that I was about to touch my parents feet, but then I realized that was silly! They are just feet. After I rinsed my parents feet, they both washed off mine. I’m very ticklish and thought it would tickle me, but I was touched by all the love I felt. I looked at them and was reminded of how much they love me. I was reminded of how significant this washing of our feet was. Just this simple act of tradition in my household was enough for me to be reminded of this! This tradition reminded me of all the love I feel, and as I go into the new liturgical year I challenge myself and you, to remember to love yourself and others.
Eve:
As a part of a religion that isn’t the majority, sometimes it’s hard to be open about my beliefs. I am a person who is passionate about encouraging my peers to act with courage. This is a blog where I will be doing just that. Being Jewish is one thing that has shaped me into the person I am today. Going to synagogue, lighting the Shabbas candles with my family, and just being part of my amazing Jewish community, are all traditions that keep me going. This week being Passover,one of the most important Jewish holidays of the year, so it was hard not to be sitting around a table with my loving big family, laughing, and remembering the importance of this tradition. Of course, knowing my amazing family we can never accept the fact of something fun turning into something not fun, and after our seder was cancelled we immediately brainstormed ways to still have a wonderful, funny, and memorable Pesach. All of my extended family gathered around my grandparent’s driveway and celebrated the freedom of the slaves from Egypt from 6 feet apart. It was at this exact time where I was reminded of the importance of tradition, and why we always need to keep it alive. Despite the fact that I couldn’t physically be with all the people I love this Passover, the special memories that I shared with my family have made me appreciate the holiday even more. My family constantly teaches me that there’s always another way, and sometimes the most unplanned and chaotic twists in life are also the most memorable.
Tradition is significant because it is what gives us a sense of direction. This week’s blog post was from both of our points of view with Passover and Easter from the Jewish and Christian faith. This is an incredible year where important traditions from both of our religions landed at the same time. This year it is even more important to remember tradition because it can keep us grounded and remind us to deepen our faith. Despite the craziness of what the new decade has already brought, it is so important to always remember to keep tradition alive! It’s times like these where it is so important to remember the past, live in the present, and think about the future. Living with tradition has reminded us both how much we are loved. Tradition is purpose.
The Ripple Effect 