Stop saying you want to change the world: Do something.

Last night, I finished watching a video of the first class of a Judaism at Home course being held online by one Chabad group. As I decided where to stow my notebook for everything Jewish, I realized that just an hour earlier I had missed this week’s Torah and Tea zoom session with another Chabad group while attending a one-time lecture hosted by a third Chabad group. I ask myself — too much?

Or still not enough?

Chabad in general seems to emphasize that every little step matters, that you don’t have to immediately jump all-in at once, that even one new regularly-performed action added to your life is a mitzvah. You can add saying Modeh Ani to your morning routine or you can say the appropriate blessing before each snack or you can incorporate the hand-washing ritual before your meals. You don’t have to start all three today. Try one out, see how it fits, and add another one later. I can’t think of a Chabad conversation that didn’t offer a variety of possibilities for adding a simple touch of G-dliness to your life.

Last night’s lecture strayed from the usual Chabad tags to focus on a more global and clichéd topic. Stop saying you want to change the world: do something.

This is me doing something. Forcing myself to write when I’m not sure I have something worthy to say. During these months of COVID lockdown, I jotted several pieces of articles that seemed interesting when I started. Titles included “Next Year in Person” (Passover) and “Shavuot Alone.” I scribbled notes, intending to get back to it, but failed to follow through while the issues were still seasonally relevant. In my defense, I work in the healthcare industry, so I didn’t get even a week off of work. But there it is — another excuse for not taking action. I have an unending list of those, whether or not we’re facing a global health crisis.

That shouldn’t stop us. The rabbi mentioned a time when a white supremacist group made a scene in Montana. While a variety of national organizations made a bigger scene publicizing their condemnation of that group, the locals decided to buy Chumashes (Torah books) for all Jewish households across the state. One might argue that many people were similarly motivated following the initial destructive wave that piggy-backed on the Black Lives Matter protests. While the talking heads were going on about what had happened and who was to blame, hundreds of people — perhaps thousands — across the nation woke up early the next morning to help with the cleanup.

We can’t stop there. What should we be doing to put good in the world? Anti-racial book clubs aren’t going to magically create an environment wherein all people treat one another with respect and dignity. Passively attending three online classes about Judaism in a night isn’t going to turn my home into a mikdash me’at (mini synagogue). These things will help, but we need to be more deliberate about making the world a better place.

We each know someone in person or in the media who lives the life we desire, who inspires our pursuits. Let’s be that person. Let’s stop talking about what should happen and just do it. Become the role model you love, take action, and inspire someone else to help change the world too.