Hope you've had a good week. Pesach is in the air! Please scroll through the email for all our Pesach and pre Pesach happenings - and for some Shule Board news. Pesach is very much about story telling, passing on knowledge, legacy and tradition from generation to generation and bringing history to life. Here is something I wrote on social media this week, following a wonderful Bar Mitzvah we had at the Shule on Sunday morning (it was Rosh Chodesh so we read from the Torah). When someone passes away, we wish that ‘their memory should be for a blessing’. Today a 5th generation Elwood Bar Mitzvah boy was called to the Torah. With gusto, pride and confidence Jarrah Borowski took the first step to becoming a responsible young Jewish man and thereby continuing a legacy that his great great grandfather began. In January 1943, Moshe Baruch Hirsh, of blessed memory, was part of the Inauguration Committee planning the celebration and dedication of ‘Elwood Shule’ in its first formation, as it moved from various private homes in Elwood (since 1933) to a permanent building in Avoca Ave (now the Scout Hall). The Shule later moved 39 Dickens St in 1957, where we celebrated today. It is obvious from the meeting minutes of those early days that involvement in Shule activity ran deep and led to utilisation of personal skills for the communal benefit. Moshe Baruch who had an embroidering factory, manufactured the original and some of the subsequent curtains for the Aron HaKodesh and Torah and Amud covers. We found that original Aron Hakodesh cover from 1943 and the family had it restored and put up for the Bar Mitzvah of Moshe Baruch’s great great grandson, Jarrah. His legacy lives on not just in a beautifully embroidered velvet curtain, but as a living and thriving legacy through his extended family’s ongoing connection and dedication to Judaism and to the very Shule he helped breath the first breaths of life into. We wish Jarrah, his parents and grandparents a hearty Mazal Tov, as he now proudly carries this flame of tradition into the future, contributing his unique skills to the community, and by doing so nurturing the roots and tending to the tree planted all those years ago. That’s naches. Moshe Baruch’s memory is indeed a blessing. It's this time of the year that really gets us thinking and talking about what legacy and blessing are we creating and leaving, as we strive to pass on our values and traditions and make a positive Jewish impact not only for the present but for generations to come. Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom, a pleasant weekend and a healthy, productive and stress-free-pre-pesach week ahead. If you have any questions re Pesach, the Seder or for any support at all, please be in touch, 0433 676 300. Rabbi Shmuel |