Four Visions of Tikkun Olam

“Some have suggested imposing a ban or hiatus on the term tikkun olam, given the general confusion about the meaning of this phrase” (Rabbi Jill Jacobs quoted in The Biblical Source For Tikkun Olam, Benjamin Blech, pg. 39).

1) Aleinu: Shaddai’s Kingdom

This prayer found in the siddur developed sometime right before or during the time of the Mishnah. I put it first because it quotes the Book of Zechariah, which is older post-Babylonian expulsion (586 BCE)

2) Mishnah: Maintaining peace and order

The first use of the phrase “tikkun olam” is in the Mishnah (300-500CE). Rabbis would render legal rulings “Mip'nei tikkun ha-‘olam” -- for the betterment of the world. The rabbis were concerned about the Law of Unintended Consequences, that Jewish law might backfire on society unless remedied.

3) Zohar: Individual spiritual development leads to a perfect world

[For] Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the foremost leader of the community of mystics in Safed in the Galilee and considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah, the idea of tikkun olam was based on the notion that the ten vessels that contained the perceptible world of divinity had shattered, bringing evil into the world. The broken vessels required repair, and this would become the greatest mission of humanity. The way to restore the divine light to its proper place was through prayer, study of Torah, and the performance of mitzvot. It seems clear that for Luria, tikkun was not seen as synonymous with a call for social justice; rather, it was a challenge to strive toward perfecting oneself.

Human life on its own, without reference to any communal context, was perceived as having meaning, since every person’s actions have the capacity to affect the cosmos—and, with daring audacity, even God’s perceptible reality. (Blech, pg. 40).

4) Liberal and Secular Jews: tikkun olam becomes social justice

For liberal and secular Jews (note the difference!) tikkun olam transforms into terms we might be familiar with today, such as social justice and equality

Reform Judaism - Platforms

"In full accordance with the spirit of the Mosaic legislation, which strives to regulate the relations between rich and poor, we deem it our duty to participate in the great task of modern times, to solve, on the basis of justice and righteousness, the problems presented by the contrasts and evils of the present organization of society."

"We bring Torah into the world when we strive to fulfill the highest ethical mandates in our relationships with others and with all of God’s creation. Partners with God in tikkun olam, repairing the world, we are called to help bring nearer the messianic age. We seek dialogue and joint action with people of other faiths in the hope that together we can bring peace, freedom and justice to our world."

Secular Humanistic Judaism

"We are committed, in the enduring Jewish tradition of support for social action and social progress, to community service and actions for social justice. We each take responsibility for our own behavior, and all of us take collective responsibility for the state of our world." (Core Principals of Humanistic Judaism)

"Humanistic Judaism celebrates and respects human power, responsibility and rational decision-making as the best tools we have to live this life to its fullest. Humanists believe that people can make ethical judgments and choices without living in fear of some supernatural punishment. Jewish Humanism adds the imperatives to care for the earth and repair the world, tikkun olam, as well as the core value of social justice." (from Kol Haskalah Humanistic Jewish Congregation)

Selected Jewish Texts

There are simply too many social justice texts in the Jewish library to put in a single sheet. The following are selected ones connected to poverty. Using your new "four worlds" vision of tikkun olam, you can relate to these texts in a different way.

Rules For Not-So-Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer For Tikkun Olam

So now you know what Tikkun Olam is about. But what do you DO with any of this? Pirkei Avot, a section of the Talmud, offers these ideas, which combat the divisive nature of tikkun olam today.

How Do We Help Others? By Meeting Them Where They Are In Goodness

• "Be amongst the students of Aaron: Love peace and pursue peace. Love people and bring them close to Torah" (1:12)
• "Meet every person with graciousness" (1:15)
• "Judge every person favorably" (1:6)

Becoming A Better Person, So You Can Help Others

• "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am only for myself, what am 'I'? And if not now, when?" (1:14)
• "Do not be quick to anger" (2:15)
• "The evil eye, the evil inclination, and hatred of men, drive a person out of the world" (2:11)

A Little Less Talk, A Little More Action - Elvis Presley

• "Say little and do much" (1:15)
• "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it" (2:16)
• "All my days I grew up among the sages, and I have found nothing better for a person than silence. Study is not the most important thing, but actions; whoever indulges in too many words brings about sin" (1:17)

Power?

• "Be cautious regarding the ruling power. Because they only befriend a person when it serves all. They appear as friends when it suits them, but they do not stand by a man in his time of need" (2:3)
• "He saw a skull floating on the water, and said to it, 'Because you drowned others, they drowned you. And they will also eventually be drowned because they drowned you.'" (2:7)
• "Do God's will as if it were your own, so that God will do God's will as if it were yours. Nullify your own will before God's so that God will nullify the will of others before you" (2:4)
• "In a place where there are no worthy [people], strive to be worthy" (2:5)

Middot: Jewish Values