Small Successes

Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a 20-something youth group member while taking a break from our Khai Fest dance rehearsal. I couldn’t tell you where our conversation began, or how we got to the topic of the Holocaust, but we did. And something he said disturbed me to the core: how could so many people have followed Hitler? The Jews must have done something to warrant all of that hatred.

He listened as I explained the history of Germany before WWII, the gradual rise of the Nazi party, the idea of a scapegoat, the unfortunate steps that lead to genocide (in many cases throughout history, not just the Holocaust). I barely paused for a breath for fear that he would interrupt and take the conversation in another direction. I was bothered by his comment and knew that I had a small window to explain the complicated history. When I finally stopped, he looked at me seriously and said: “thank you, I’ve never heard those things before.”

Later, reflecting back on our short conversation, I realized I had capitalized on a true teachable moment, and it had felt like a real success. Finally, three months into my stay in India, it clicked. This is why I am here, to teach people things about Judaism and about our history that they haven’t been able to learn elsewhere, to be there for those teachable moments and to take full advantage of them.

Although I have struggled with defining my role here, I have been inspired by this community and found a few creative paths to take that could make an impact, big or small, in a way that excites me and caters to my skills and interests. And, through moments like this one, I’ve found that certain successes can’t be planned or programmed. This conversation happened by accident, and it happened because I sat down and started to talk in the first place. And what an important lesson for me to learn: sometimes the small actions I take can make a bigger impact than I could have ever planned.

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