I ask my wedding couples: What your Judaism looks like? It is an important question because how they will embrace Judaism as they become a family and teach their children will become uniquely their own. It is different than the Judaism they learned growing up but it is grounded in what we have taught them. Our legacy is their foundation.
The recollection of life experiences and family shapes our children and informs them. We bequeath to them our values and they use these to make their own meaningful events and experiences. Meaning making, that is truly our legacy. And when we look back to the previous links in the chain of our history, we see that is what played out for us as well. We fondly remember family, experiences and the Judaism of our memory. These shaped us, but the way we engage Judaism is different than the way our parents did as well
Our legacy is what we live. It is living testimony to our values; the “how” we do the things we do. We can illuminate, or explain the “why” we do what we do, by sharing the foundational stories and memories of our lives. Sharing our legacy gives a fuller, richer picture of us and the world in which our children lived, and the basis for their world to be. Our Legacy gives our next generation something important to serve as a foundation and from which they can grow.
