We are on the home straight, the end of the year is in sight, the end of the building works is tantalisingly close, and we have nearly finished another cycle of the Torah. Moses has been delivering his final speech for some weeks of torah readings now, and this week we begin his final farewell. It is clear he will not journey into the promised land, but after 120 years he has earned some rest, and begins to deliver his and God’s final instructions to the Israelites.
Reading this portion the shabbat before Rosh Hashanah seems particularly poignant. In a service where many will be remembering loved ones and the legacies they have left for them in this world, and in a month where we are encouraged to visit the graves of our loved ones, Moses goodbye speech is perfectly placed to ask us to consider, what is the legacy we wish to leave behind us and how do we want to make sure we are creating that legacy in the coming new year.
This sort of question can of course be answered on many levels. Over the last few months as we as a community have put up with the inconvenience of building works. Drilling and pounding outside my window whilst trying to meet or to write, a different entrance or exit every other week, no onsite parking for those who have disabled badges, and the excitement of seeing the synagogue transform from what looked like a 1960’s police station into a building that is modern, welcoming, peaceful, and I think looks an awful lot closer to how we see ourselves. This is a building and a community that is looking forward to the next 40 years of growth and development. It isn’t a permanent legacy, as I hope we all here today will create a communal legacy strong enough to ensure that the babies and toddlers packing out our youth centre every Friday morning for stay and play will be wanting to update and modernise the site for a new age when they are our leaders in 30 or 40 years time.
We hope when people come through our new front entrance on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur they feel they are walking into a community that looks as it feels – thriving, caring, accessible, moving with the times, looking to the future and remembering our past. But of course they will be coming through our new entrance in order to reflect on themselves as well as on us as a community. The portion we read today, on the cusp of the new year, is a reminder that none of us will be here forever, but we can each decide what the legacy we leave behind us will be.
During Ellul some of you will have visited the graves of loved ones, or might be joining the last of our memorial services tomorrow, here and at Edgwarebury. I believe that part of the reason this became a tradition was to encourage us to reflect on the legacies left by those we have loved, to consider how we want to honour them in our actions, and thus to begin to create a positive legacy ourselves.
The language we use over the chaggim is often about changing that which we got wrong, and repenting of sins we have committed either individually or collectively. But we also create both change and legacy by focussing on what we got right in the year gone by, and what we should be doing more of in 5785. Despite the horrendous year which quite frankly I will be pleased to see the back of, our new look building exterior is a reminder that renewal and regeneration are an important part of looking forward. Ultimately what happens inside and around the building is the most important part, but we now have a synagogue playground, bike racks (dedicated in honour of the late Sydney Budd who himself cycled everywhere), and beautiful seating areas where we can gather. These are just some ways we are hoping communally to create a future as well as a legacy, and I have to confess that over the last week as the builders have cleaned up, removed storage containers and continue to place the last few details, I have felt such joy on walking through the gate. I hope that the year to come contains more of that joy for all of us, and that the playground is full, the benches are sat upon, and bikes cared for while their owners work or attend one of so many thriving activities in the building. As a community, this is how we create both a future and a legacy, hopefully we can each as individuals be as productive over the coming days of Awe and on into 5785. We may not create a legacy quite as well known as that of Moses, but we can all make a difference.
Cain Yehi Ratzon
May this be God’s will
Venomar Amen.
