Becoming the Pursuer of Life
Be the change you want to see in the world
This post was originally published on my Facebook page on February 24, 2025. It has been expanded to provide additional context.
Some of you may know I was a youth advisor in a peer leadership program for Jewish teens for more than 15 years. The program, called Gesher LeKesher (Hebrew for “Bridge to a Connection”), creates “caring, vibrant communities of learners where mitzvot [good deeds], rituals, teachings, values, and culture of Judaism are experienced, respected, and integrated into the lives of young people” (JFCS, 2019).
I began participating as a youth advisor in 2007, during my Master of Social Work (MSW) practicum education experience at Jewish Family and Children’s Service in Princeton, NJ. This program and its students quickly became very meaningful to me, and I left in late 2023 only because my new job required me to move two hours away.
Below is a parable from a "read and reflect" activity we did with the students in one of the units. For years, I have understood this story intellectually; I now understand it emotionally and spiritually, as well.
TLDR; Be the change you want to see in the world.
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Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan (1838-1933), was an influential Polish Jewish rabbi and ethicist known as the Chafetz Chayim, or Pursuer of Life (Posner, n.d.). A short tale of the man and his mission follows.
The Chafetz Chaim saw the deficiencies in the Jewish world and decided he had to change the Jewish world.
So, he tried to change the Jewish world and he couldn’t. So, he said he would change the Jews of his country, Poland.
He tried to change the Jews of his country, Poland, and he couldn’t. So, he said he would change the Jews of his town, Radin.
He tried to change the Jews of his town, Radin, and he couldn’t. So, he said he would change the Jews of his synagogue.
He tried to change the Jews of his synagogue and he couldn’t. So, he said he would change the Jews of his family.
He tried to change the Jews of his family and he couldn’t. So, he said, “Let me change myself.”
And when he changed himself, he became the Chafetz Chayim and he changed the Jews of the world (PCLT, 2000).
References:
Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS) of Greater Mercer County. (2019). Gesher LeKesher: Bridge to a Connection, A High School Peer Leadership Program for Jewish Adolescents. [Brochure}. https://www.jfcsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Gesher-Brochure-2019.pdf
Posner, M. (n.d.) Who was the Chofetz Chaim? Chabad.org. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4380962/jewish/Who-Was-the-Chofetz-Chaim.htm
Princeton Center for Leadership Training (PCLT). (2000). The Chafetz Chaim. [Handout]. Gesher LeKesher: Bridge to a Connection. Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS) of Greater Mercer County.
It's always been a wonderful parable. Thanks for sharing here.
Interesting read! Thank you for sharing!