Rituals - to do or not to do?

Rituals have always played an important part of my life. Every day I do some sort of ritual, whether it be my morning ritual of washing my face and brushing my teeth, to something religious like saying the blessings over my food. The type of rituals mentioned in the chapter are those that "are performances that are repeated, patterned, and frequently include ceremonial actions that incorporate symbols, actions and repetition" (Sims and Stephens p. 95) These types of rituals are those such as life cycle events, holidays, and other types of events. The chapter then goes on to discuss different types of rituals. There are low-context and high context rituals and invented rituals. Low-context rituals are less formal than others and may not be planned in advance. The only one that I can think of is the one that is already written in the book, and that is the ritual of throwing salt over oneÂ’s shoulder if it gets spilled. After thinking for a bit another one I can think of is when someone says to someone else who is driving to not get in a crash and the driver knocks on wood. A High-context ritual is one that is planned out and is more formal. In the Jewish faith, before eating, one is to wash their hands and say a blessing. This would be an example of a planned out ritual. The last type of ritual is the invented ritual. The difference between the different rituals are that "invented rituals may primarily reflect awareness that a group needs traditions to participate in with some regularity and which can identify individuals as members" (Sims and Stephens p. 101)

I have participated in several invented rituals. Two that are the most vivid in my memory are those from elementary school. I went to a Jewish Day School when I was younger and in order for us to feel more like adults, they created ceremonies for the 3rd and 5th graders. In 3rd grade at the beginning of the year, the students are given their own siddurs (prayer books). Each student prepares one of the prayers and as a whole the class prepares a song. After a couple weeks of learning, the students are given their siddurs at a ceremony with all of the parents. It is a pretty significant ceremony to the child at the time as they are given a book that allows them to pray whenever they want and to "find" G-d when they feel fit. The 5th graders go through a similar type of ceremony but are given a Chumash (Torah) instead. In both instances, these are invented rituals that have grown significancence over the years at the school. I still remember both ceremonies very well and will probably remember to tell my children about them when they are old enough.

This is in response to reading question number 4.