A Fiddler on the Roof

Recently, a lot of theological thoughts have been jumping around me lately. Jake just finished his theology class, and had asked me questions about certain things in Catholicism. Mr. Livernois just told me that Laura just left her husband (who was Muslim), and that made me think of the talk she and I had about why she converted to Islam (because when she was Catholic, she fell in love with the process and traditions, which is why she wanted more…hence Islam). I just finished watching an episode of House where a Hassidic Jew was about to have a kidney torn off of her body, and she still wanted to have a Sabbath meal with her husband.

What got me thinking is why we have so many traditions in the world. In the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” the main character, Tevye explains that without his Jewish traditions, his life would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof. The whole musical is based around the concept of meshing a life of change and a life of traditions.

Can we really bring our traditions to the world we live in? I don’t know about any other religion, but I know there’s a movement in the Catholic Church to be more…well…traditional. Some of the things that are coming back are good: a renewal of chastity, a simpler life, etc. But there are some things that I don’t think could transpose into the world as we know it, like a Latin Mass, or the belief that women should become like Kirsten Dunst in Mona Lisa Smile BEFORE she got divorced. Out off all of our traditions, do we have to give up the ones we don’t want anymore? Is that even fair?

I think we hold onto traditions because they are comforting. I know that being Catholic, for me, is challenging, but it’s comforting too. I don’t think I could give that up. Even though my past isn’t very interesting, those Catholic traditions are what keeps me close to God.
Every time I watch “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” I can relate to Tula so much, but one of the things that I question is what Tula feels about being Greek Orthodox. Does she hate it, and that’s partly why she’s unhappy? Or is it because she has no life and when she gets one, God rewards her? It seems like she’s indifferent, and maybe that’s why I don’t understand that part of her; it doesn’t matter to her about her family traditions.

The movie, in my opinion, is a good representation of what’s going on in the world these days. People are comforted by their traditions, but at the same time, they know that those same traditions are considered “old-fashioned” in society, which leaves us with a question for ourselves.

Are we the people to keep or to toss away our traditions? What traditions are worth keeping and others thrown away?

I feel like a fiddler.