After 40 years, the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land but Moses will not be going with them. Shirat Ha’azinu, the song of Moses, his final words to the assembled Israelites, is a celebration of the 40-year journey they have made and a song of hope that Israel will survive, not just physically, but spiritually as well.

God tells Moses to climb Mount Nebo to see the Promised Land and then reminds us he will not be able to enter it. He is destined to die on the mountain.

By this time Moses is an old man. He was raised as an Egyptian prince in a time of slavery, nursed by his Hebrew slave mother as a small boy. He rebelled against his adoptive family and became a shepherd for years in the Midianite desert, finally returning and liberating his people, leading them across the desert for 40 years.

He understood what it is like to be an outsider, to be on the margins, neither quite one thing nor another. This was what was required to help turn a bunch of slaves into a free people. But settlement in the Land needs someone younger, someone with a clearer and less complex identity. We are none of us immortal, and none of us can do everything.

We do not always get to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Moses dies just before his life work is about to be fulfilled. It is the journey that has determined his greatness and from which he must reap his rewards. And the journey has been a mixed one.

The long walk across the desert transformed the people from slaves into free people ready to enter the Promised Land, but there were successes and failures along the way. That’s life.

Any effort to change the world is always a journey of uncertainty and transience. Some goals are achieved, others are not, and some not in our lifetimes.

Rabbi Tarfon said: “It is not up to you to complete the work but neither are you free to desist from it” (Ethics of the Fathers 2:16).

We have to do our part and hope that future generations carry the work on.

We stand at the foot of Mount Nebo, watching Moses ascend; we bear witness to the journey of our people from slavery to freedom and we experience our personal journey from the intensity of Yom Kippur to the celebration and fulfilment of Succot.