In some very traditional shuls, there are a set of practices that are believed to date back to the time of Moses. No change may be made. This is the way we have always done it, and this is the way that we will always do it. There are also liberal congregations in which the observance of tradition is so fluid that one never knows what to expect. All music must always be the latest and the congregation must be totally creative.
Innovation is the watchword and tradition is only that which has been done for the last three weeks.
In Reconstructionism, we try to balance the old and the new, the traditional and the innovative. We believe that Torah began with the Five Books of Moses, but that it is a dynamic process. It most definitely includes the ideas and opinions accumulated throughout the centuries. The past has a great effect upon our present actions. But, although tradition has a voice, it does not have a veto.