Philosophy
Yesterday was opening convocation here at Gettysburg. A ceremony that is designed to mark the opening of the academic year and to bring the incoming class of first year students (we do NOT call them freshmen, by "we" I mean administrators) into the college community. To make the ceremony more ceremonial, to bring greater relief to the delineation between being outside of and inside of the institution, every year a new tradition is added, a twist designed to make the ritual more ritualistic.
The problem is that trying to create a meaningful ritual is like trying to throw a great party. The epic parties are unpredictable, they just happen. The more you try to control the factors and create the vibe, the more contrived it feels and the less likely the authentic spirit needed will arise. And so it is with ritual.
So, what is it that makes a ritual meaningful? Is it history? There is certainly something that is amazing every year when Jews gather at passover to do the same thing that ancestors have done for thousands of years. Like looking over a temporal version of the Grand Canyon, that you can see so far back from your vantage point is inspiring in certain ways. But new rituals can't have that.
Is it that the symbolism is particularly poignant, that the act is so strikingly representative of some value? But the symbolism has to walk a fine line between representation and being too literal.
Is it that it gives a sense of something greater than the individual? When you do something with many people who are also doing the same exact thing, it can give you a sense of transcendence, of moving beyond the self. But everyone needs to be doing it with a certain spirit, a certain authenticity and earnestness.
Are there other factors? What can be done to create new rituals that are meaningful and not contrived?
- Ritual And Superstition
Thinking about the relationship between ritual and superstition. Clearly some rituals are non-superstitious. No one thinks that not getting together for Thanksgiving will invite bad luck. The ritual is culturally enforced, but has clear...
- The Value Of False Rituals
TheWife loves rituals. She finds great meaning in them, even if they are new rituals that she or we are inventing for our family as we go. I, on the other hand, have never been one for rituals. They've always seemed like inauthentic actions performed...
- Comedist Rituals And One Proud Poppa
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, So, we took the kids to Pizza Putt, a pizza joint, miniature golf course, and arcade. The shorties played in the arcade for an hour amassing a large number of tickets which could be redeemed for...
- You Jews Sure Take Care Of The Help
Leave it to Jews to make the most important day of the year about guilt. The biggest holiday of the year is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. They call it a high holiday, but the point of it is to feel low. With the Jewish year just starting, it is a...
- A Secular Jew At Easter
A colleague asked me the other day whether we were having a seder for Passover. We're not. She's not Jewish, but her husband is...well, he is as much as I am which is not very much. They were doing it for the kids. Now, if there were anything...
Philosophy
Ritual and Meaning
Yesterday was opening convocation here at Gettysburg. A ceremony that is designed to mark the opening of the academic year and to bring the incoming class of first year students (we do NOT call them freshmen, by "we" I mean administrators) into the college community. To make the ceremony more ceremonial, to bring greater relief to the delineation between being outside of and inside of the institution, every year a new tradition is added, a twist designed to make the ritual more ritualistic.
The problem is that trying to create a meaningful ritual is like trying to throw a great party. The epic parties are unpredictable, they just happen. The more you try to control the factors and create the vibe, the more contrived it feels and the less likely the authentic spirit needed will arise. And so it is with ritual.
So, what is it that makes a ritual meaningful? Is it history? There is certainly something that is amazing every year when Jews gather at passover to do the same thing that ancestors have done for thousands of years. Like looking over a temporal version of the Grand Canyon, that you can see so far back from your vantage point is inspiring in certain ways. But new rituals can't have that.
Is it that the symbolism is particularly poignant, that the act is so strikingly representative of some value? But the symbolism has to walk a fine line between representation and being too literal.
Is it that it gives a sense of something greater than the individual? When you do something with many people who are also doing the same exact thing, it can give you a sense of transcendence, of moving beyond the self. But everyone needs to be doing it with a certain spirit, a certain authenticity and earnestness.
Are there other factors? What can be done to create new rituals that are meaningful and not contrived?
- Ritual And Superstition
Thinking about the relationship between ritual and superstition. Clearly some rituals are non-superstitious. No one thinks that not getting together for Thanksgiving will invite bad luck. The ritual is culturally enforced, but has clear...
- The Value Of False Rituals
TheWife loves rituals. She finds great meaning in them, even if they are new rituals that she or we are inventing for our family as we go. I, on the other hand, have never been one for rituals. They've always seemed like inauthentic actions performed...
- Comedist Rituals And One Proud Poppa
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, So, we took the kids to Pizza Putt, a pizza joint, miniature golf course, and arcade. The shorties played in the arcade for an hour amassing a large number of tickets which could be redeemed for...
- You Jews Sure Take Care Of The Help
Leave it to Jews to make the most important day of the year about guilt. The biggest holiday of the year is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. They call it a high holiday, but the point of it is to feel low. With the Jewish year just starting, it is a...
- A Secular Jew At Easter
A colleague asked me the other day whether we were having a seder for Passover. We're not. She's not Jewish, but her husband is...well, he is as much as I am which is not very much. They were doing it for the kids. Now, if there were anything...