Tony and Tinas Orthodox Show

Someone once commented on one of my many former blogs that religion is a form of kabuki (Japanese theatre). And this time of year, the theatre is in full swing.

Right now it's Tisha BeAv - we feel sad and mournfull. We act sad, we do sad rituals like eating egg in ash and sitting on the floor. The mood is oppressive and depressing. We breathlessly focus on every car crahs and other bad events that always seem to happen davkah during the 3 weeks. We say platitudes about the importance of achdus. We even hold asifas and have top lawyers give us mussar. We can't wait for it to end. We complain about the lack of fleishiks.

But deep down, we kinda enjoy it I think. I could have just skipped Tisha BeAv this year completely. I mean, why bother? What's the point? But as soon as I heard the first words of Eichah, I was glad I didn't skip it. It's a powerful piece of theatre. Just like we enjoy going to sad or scary movies, we enjoy Tisha BeAv. It feels good to feel bad. Then of course we have Shabbos Nachamu, and then Ellul. Ever spent Ellul in a REAL yeshivah? I have. And I can still remember how powerful it was, and probably always will.

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succos - all elaborate theatre, complete with costumes, props, drama, comedy, scary parts, happy parts - it's all there. Where do you get such thrills, such feelings in every day life? From the movies? From going to the bar every night? Maybe you can, or maybe life feels somehow emptier and more vacuous.

And it's not just the Yomim Noroim where the performances are stellar. Every Shabbos, every Friday Night, every Seduah Shelishis, in a decent shul (and not some kalte MO intellectual place) is elaborate theatre. And even every day has a little bit of theatre - shacharis, mincha, maariv. Even a humble bracha - you're talking to THE SUPREME BEING for goodness sake! And not only that, HE'S FREAKING LISTENING TO YOU!

The drama is overwhelming.

True, sometimes you need a break. Too much of a good thing and all that. Plus, if you keep reminding yourself that it's only a show, it can get annoying, especially when too much audience participation is required. But who goes to a great movie and sits there during the scary bits saying out loud 'They're just actors, the cameraman is right there!' (OK, when I was a kid I used to do that during the really scary bits) We enjoy the performance, we want it to be as real as possible.

It's Tony and Tina's Wedding show write large. And maybe there's something too that. If only I could just forget about that damn cameraman.