Sing with me: Tradition, Tradition!

Once upon a time I played Lazar Wolf in “Fiddler on the Roof.”  One of those evocative songs is “Tradition.”  It sets the theme for the musical that all of the village’s routines are based upon tradition.  It is funny how our lives are dictated by tradition.  Sometimes, tradition is healthy and provides a solid foundation to build upon.  Other times, tradition bifurcates our view on reality.

The new bride surprised her groom with a ham dinner.  Being a modern man, the husband knew his way around the kitchen.  Oh, he complimented his wife profusely because it was delicious.  He did ask her, however, why she cut the ham in half before placing it in the roaster.  She didn’t know why but said that is what her mother always did. 

The next time they visited her parents his mother-in-law also prepared a ham adorned with pineapple slices and cherries.  It was wonderful. But, the ham was also sliced in half.  Daughter asked mother why she cut the ham in half.  With great confidence she replied, “That’s what you always need to do with a ham, Dear.”

At Easter, the whole family was invited to Grandma’s house.  Grandma served her customary baked ham and when she brought the platter to the table the ham was already cut in half.  Granddaughter sweetly asked Grannie why she cuts the ham in half.  “Does it improve the flavor?”  “Piffle,” Grandma chuckled. “The only roasting pan I have isn’t big enough for a whole ham so I have the butcher cut it in half.”

Ah, that which we hold as sacred began from necessity.

In Wisconsin, we participate in the weekly ritual of Friday night fish.  It comes from the area’s large Roman Catholic population, which in pre-Vatican II days anxiously refrained from meat on Friday.  The Weiner Lady doing a weekend store promotion was seen by some as an offense to their piety. Friday fish carried an element of penitence.  But where did that tradition come from?

In former times before refrigerators or ice boxes or even smoke houses, peasants couldn’t preserve meats. Heck, as peasants there weren’t many animals.  Winter months were harsh on food supply and there was no animal protein.  A benevolent prince concerned for his people encouraged the church to tell the people to fish for food and have it on Friday in honor of the salvation won for the people on that Good Friday long ago.  Friday became that day when peasants could look forward to a protein source to help them survive and stave off starvation.  Somewhere, that tradition evolved into adding an over-sized baked potato with sour cream, cole slaw, and rye bread served by a saucy waitress competing with the din of Happy Hour.  A tradition born out of survival has become a tradition of conviviality.

You have to love tradition.  Traditions are what hold families and cultures together.  Traditions are the actions that dramatize our story as a culture.  Traditions that are negative are unhealthy and should be avoided.  But those traditions that allow us to celebrate and give pride and strengthen a community are rituals to preserve and pass along to coming generations.