Geula
This year we celebrated
Ramat Yohanan, 1976
This year we celebrated the harvest festival in all its splendor - and may all those who had taken part in the work will be blessed.
But this time I do not wish to speak in praise of this holiday, but rather to raise a number of thoughts ensuing following reactions of members, that were expressed mainly during the preparations for the holiday.
A group of young members, especially the dancers, wondered aloud whether the festival should be held each year in the same format. Perhaps one year it ought to be canceled, or celebrated in a simpler and easier way, without much preparation. These questions rose from experiencing fatigue, because these members contribute their time and energy to every party and holiday.
And the burden on them is great. Another feeling is that a small portion of people contribute to the holiday and all the rest merely enjoy it. Other members expressed the following: This holiday drives the entire settlement crazy from a month preceding the holiday - and for what? For an hour of celebration. Or: Hasn't it become boring to hear the same narrators every year, with the same readings, and the dances, each one of which, seems to me as a single dance repeated?
I have not brought attention to these things merely to criticize or to preach, but to stimulate thought, and perhaps even to hold a discussion: what is a holiday, what is a tradition, how should we celebrate our holidays – shall we follow the same pattern (tradition) as a religious person does, with his special prayers and psalms fixed for every holiday or is it better to change things from time to time.