Guilty as charged. The concept of “tikkun olam”, revealed to me as a young adult, was my gateway drug into taking Judaism seriously for the first time, because it fit with the world view I had developed, growing up secularly. In the past two years, I have woken up and smelled the hypocrisy coffee of the so-called “progressive” left and see how diluted the “tikkun olam” mantra is - the moral equivalent of holding Shabbat services on Sundays.
The modern version of Tikkun Olam is a perversion of Jewish law adopted by hypocrites and Marxists like Barack Obama to make liberal Jews think they are respected by the Left. They’re not as the last two and one half years has vividly shown. For this group Tikkun Olam is a world devoid of Israel and Jews.
Tikkun Olam is a valid concept from Lurianic Kabbalah. The term means improving the world through Torah learning, tefilla and especially meditation of holiness. The secularists who have stolen this term from Torah history demonstrate that their knowledge is limited to the literal meaning. Their shameful behaviour shows they have the greatest need for Tikkun.
Thanks so much for clarifying the situation in which we find ourselves. Who could have dreamed that a seemingly hopeful phrase would do so much damage to Jewish unity?
Thank you for the explanation. I "as a Gentile" have been concerned for the last two years and longer about this phrase. It did not make any sense at all. How can you heal a world when the world wants you dead. Once you are dead who will do the "tikkun olam " thing then? You can only lick arse for so long before you realise that all you are doing is eating shit. Am Yisrael Chai
You are correct. At least a gentile understands. What good is Tikun Olam when it provokes the distruction of Israel and the Jewish people. Jews today have to be aware of their own survival before putting all their energy into saving the world. Obviously a large segment of Israeli Jews don’t understand this. The division of Jews caused the destruction of both Temples and is happening again today, even in Israel!
The Kabalistic concept of Tikun Olam is that the perfect world created by God has shattered due to sin and that by fullfilling Mitzvot, the Jewish people begin to repair the world. While charity is a part of mitzvot it is not what is meant and as you write, its meaning has been distorted by left wing Jews who have fully replaced Judaism with Marxist ideas.
The fact that some Jews hold views with which we vehemently disagree, and these views (in sympathy with Hamas) are dangerous to Israel and to Jews, and these people, in addition to espousing other lies, (mis)use the term "tikkun olam", does not mean that the idea of "tikkun olam" is wrong or that "’Tikkun Olam' is not Jewish at all" as the article's title claims.
We Jews have a long history and a rich heritage, and some of it is very ritual-oriented, and some is very academic-oriented, and some is universalist-oriented, The prophets had a lot to say about universal concepts and world peace, and justice, and loving and helping the stranger. They are part of our heritage too. The fact is, ever since the Enlightenment many Jews have left strict orthodoxy, and some have given up on Jewish ritual altogether, but many of these Jews have been in the forefront of social movements for bettering the lot of humanity -- labor unions, socialism, civil rights. Yes, some of the ideas are wrongheaded and counterproductive, but the unselfish and altruistic goals have their root in their Jewish cultural heritage. It's not a coincidence and it is not foreign to our people.
I have lived in Israel for over 40 years, and I am a religious Zionist. I am very proud when I see Israel (and Jews) helping all over the world when there are natural disasters and building collapses and plagues. And even when we help sick Palestinians from Gaza and Syrian refugees. It's the right, and Jewish, thing to do and it doesn't hurt our image. And it's tikkun olam.
The final paragraph
"Perhaps the most revealing fact about modern-day Tikkun Olam is that in Israel — the Jewish homeland and the center of Jewish civilization — you never hear Israelis invoke it as a social, religious, or cultural value. Such an absence is telling. If this concept doesn’t exist in the vocabulary of the Jewish homeland, then it’s safe to say that Tikkun Olam in its modern form is not Jewish at all."
is completely wrong both in its premise and the logic that the author uses to reach a conclusion. There are plenty of Israelis (maybe he doesn't personally know any) who believe in Tikkun Olam. Many participate in "peace-corps" type missions abroad in Asia and Africa. I personally know Israelis who have participated in these activities, and many more who support them. And even if there weren't, since when is something which does not inherently start in Israel but rather comes from the diaspora, like for example Simhat Torah, women's torah learning, and the Babylonian Talmud, mean that it is "not Jewish at all"?
It's true, as the article says, that the phrase "tikkun olam" has a different meaning in the mishna. So what? As a slogan it is very appropriate. Many times slogans are words taken out of context, and they are still appropriate. I wonder if the author knows that the name of the aliya organization Nefesh b'Nefesh (which probably helped him when he made aliya) comes from Dvarim 19:21 as part of the "eye for an eye" law:
I don't think "capital punishment for murder" is what the founders of the aliya organization had in mind when they chose their name -- but the words fit. So it's a good name.
By the way, the phrase "l'taken olam" (to fix the world), appears in the Aleinu prayer, which predates the mishna (at least according to tradition) by quite a bit. Tikkun Olam is a concept Jews should aspire to, not be ashamed of.
"many of these Jews have been in the forefront of social movements for bettering the lot of humanity -- labor unions, socialism, civil rights."
Thank you, Comrade, for demonstrating the mental illness which still does not understand that socialism is anti-Jewish at its core, robbing the individual of rights and responsibilities, in favor of big vague groups who have no actual agency.
YOUR vision of labor unions and "civil rights" no doubt lies in that Leftist vein; I have no time for that nonsense now. REAL labor unions - some of which my grandfather played a serious role in - were purely CAPITALIST in nature, not socialist.
You cannot be a "religious Zionist" and a "socialist" at the same time, Comrade. Period. It's exactly like being a "Jewish SS Officer."
Thank you for this. I don't know that we need to get rid of Tikkun Olam, as much as shifting the application. We've also misapplied DEI (to exclude Jews) when DEI when correctly applied is inclusive. I appreciate that you've triggered my curiosity, so I've been reading to learn something new. Apparently "'tikkun olam' was first used to refer to social action work in the 1950s" and subsequently applied to social action programs such as tzedakah and gemilut hasadim, according to My Jewish Learning. Instead of a way of looking at all mitzvot, we now look at what has to do with improving society. That's a huge difference.
It makes me think of what happened to "The Meaning of the Nakba" as historian and intellectual Konstantin Zurayq who first described and wrote about it this way: "The defeat of the Arabs in Palestine is not a small downfall - naksa... It is a catastrophe - nakba - in every sense of the word... Seven Arab countries declare war on Zionism in Palesting... Seven countries go to war to abolish the partition and to defeat Zionism, and quickly leave the battle after losing much of the land of Palestine - and even the part that was given to the Arabs in the Partition Plan." Translation of the original and analsyes are all available online. Societies seem now to accept Nakba as the expulsion of Arabs, since Arafat redefined and made it into a special day.
All that is to say reinventing history can have untintended consequences. Understanding, accepting, rethinking the true origins of a word or phrase can help to see and approach the world differently.
"Judaism has always organized responsibility in concentric circles: family, community, peoplehood, and only then humanity"
Yep, an' growin' up (fer whatever reason) mah fam AND mah Reform temple only/trooly stuck with the first three on that list--mostly the first two. At home we called it "Do Something Dummy" (meanin' don't jus' stand there if help is needed). That means at home--don't let'cher bubbe drop the turkey if ya see she's strugglin' ta git out outta the oven. That means with relatives--"go visit yer Auntie, she's got the cummies in her tummy & she's lonely." That means helpin' her neighbor if they need a hand, helpin' out at "skool" or at camp, temple, etc. They need volunteers? raise a hand!. Beyond that--beyond the intimately local--the only other kinda help we were ta give in the DSD mode was to Israel. I accompanied my gran' with her little tin can collectin' fer Hadassah an' then helped stuff those little cardboard coin rolls. An' that's about it... OH an' if sumbuddy's bleedin' out on the subway fer gottsakes call the MTA SOS! (BOTH my hubby & I sadly have been there AN' done that--more 'n once)
Daisy, I probably agree with your concepts, but I find your writing style too distracting to absorb its content. Being somewhat OCD about grammar and spelling myself, I wonder what YOU gain by so much effort to appear less intelligent than you are.
I git'cha... I'm oft-asked an' when I'm asked politely I do reply... but by all means skip ahead an' walk on by (like the Bacharach song!) if ya ain't got time--won't bother me a bit
Therez many a reason why I write like I do... but in brief...
1. it keeps the bots & trolls away, foils AI (fer now--they cain't imitate/spoof me!), ergo lets me name names! (I have mah own stack an' I write 'bout controversial stuff that could git me in hot warter if I didn't have a layer or two of protection! Mah vernacular ain't bulletproof--but it sho' nuff helps!)
2. folks don't git too bent outta shape takin' to a self-annointed crackpot (haha), an' as a currently unemployed "act-truss" (due ta not takin' the clot-shot countermeasures), it allows me ta ply mah trade in print an' in character writin' in the vernacular (which I may say amuses me a bit)...
As I stated, I got mah own stack too fwiw so I'm consistent across all platforms...
3. Also those that wanna take time ta git mah drift know I'm off'in full-out sin-sear (cornball aside!) but the camp diffuses some'a the hate (which otherwise tends ta be wielded like a scimitar--specially now'daze where many don't take kindly to us "chews" or our thorny opinions!). An' indeed I spend a lotta time defendin' "us joos" on not-zo-friendly sites so havin' this quirky little diffuser reduces some've the ugly...
Believe u me, I do still git sum threats (privately even!) but likely not half as dire as would be expected. Yer lookin' at the Motley Fool vs the Queen (in proximity ta the virtual gee-oh-tine)....
4. Those that wanna ignore what I contribute are free ta do so... y'all kin just skip on down ta the next com-mint. I know de-cipher-'in whut I write takes time!
5. Folks that once upon a star were used ta readin' accents an' who enjoyed the likes of Al Capp (hoid've Lil' Abner?), Mark Twain, James Whitcomb Reilly, an' Joel Chandler Harris (not ta mention S.J. Perleman!) seem ta best appreciate mah style...
Fully understand that what one reader barely tolerates the next one gen-u-ine-ly enjoys.... Some crack a smile, others shake a fist... I don't mind one bit!
Howz dat fer an answer?
ps curious...when ya read (if ya do) Twain 'er Reilly or others writin' in the vernacular (heck even Faulkner duz so) do ya write 'em all off due ta the grammatical games they play OR label 'em "dumb" 'er less intelligent an' dismiss 'em cuz they ain't usin' the Queens English? (jus' askin'....I surely don't put m'self in their catty-gory, not even close, but many t'day would write 'em ALL off not appreciatin' dialect...'er style)
Josh. You know I love this column because we corresponded about the ideas you so brilliantly expose. Bravo Bravo Bravo and thank you. This columns should be published in Tablet and in the Jewish Forward! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ חנוכה שמ 🕎
Guilty as charged. The concept of “tikkun olam”, revealed to me as a young adult, was my gateway drug into taking Judaism seriously for the first time, because it fit with the world view I had developed, growing up secularly. In the past two years, I have woken up and smelled the hypocrisy coffee of the so-called “progressive” left and see how diluted the “tikkun olam” mantra is - the moral equivalent of holding Shabbat services on Sundays.
Ditto!
You win The Kosher Internet today for "smelling the hypocrisy coffee!"
The modern version of Tikkun Olam is a perversion of Jewish law adopted by hypocrites and Marxists like Barack Obama to make liberal Jews think they are respected by the Left. They’re not as the last two and one half years has vividly shown. For this group Tikkun Olam is a world devoid of Israel and Jews.
Deeply considered, excellenty expressed
Bravo ! A beautiful takedown of his misused , dangerous concept . Thank you
This is an exceptionally cogent article.
As an American Jew, I am sort of amused when Jewish political candidates reveal in fund-raising emails that they are running to fulfill Tikkun Olam.
Huh?? Aren't all politicians running to make the world a better place? I am so disillusioned. /s
Joshua, remarkable, thought-provoking piece. I appreciate you.
Tikkun Olam is a valid concept from Lurianic Kabbalah. The term means improving the world through Torah learning, tefilla and especially meditation of holiness. The secularists who have stolen this term from Torah history demonstrate that their knowledge is limited to the literal meaning. Their shameful behaviour shows they have the greatest need for Tikkun.
Thanks so much for clarifying the situation in which we find ourselves. Who could have dreamed that a seemingly hopeful phrase would do so much damage to Jewish unity?
Thank you for the explanation. I "as a Gentile" have been concerned for the last two years and longer about this phrase. It did not make any sense at all. How can you heal a world when the world wants you dead. Once you are dead who will do the "tikkun olam " thing then? You can only lick arse for so long before you realise that all you are doing is eating shit. Am Yisrael Chai
You are correct. At least a gentile understands. What good is Tikun Olam when it provokes the distruction of Israel and the Jewish people. Jews today have to be aware of their own survival before putting all their energy into saving the world. Obviously a large segment of Israeli Jews don’t understand this. The division of Jews caused the destruction of both Temples and is happening again today, even in Israel!
The Kabalistic concept of Tikun Olam is that the perfect world created by God has shattered due to sin and that by fullfilling Mitzvot, the Jewish people begin to repair the world. While charity is a part of mitzvot it is not what is meant and as you write, its meaning has been distorted by left wing Jews who have fully replaced Judaism with Marxist ideas.
Bravo into calling out these absurd liberal zionists
I don't agree with this article at all.
The fact that some Jews hold views with which we vehemently disagree, and these views (in sympathy with Hamas) are dangerous to Israel and to Jews, and these people, in addition to espousing other lies, (mis)use the term "tikkun olam", does not mean that the idea of "tikkun olam" is wrong or that "’Tikkun Olam' is not Jewish at all" as the article's title claims.
We Jews have a long history and a rich heritage, and some of it is very ritual-oriented, and some is very academic-oriented, and some is universalist-oriented, The prophets had a lot to say about universal concepts and world peace, and justice, and loving and helping the stranger. They are part of our heritage too. The fact is, ever since the Enlightenment many Jews have left strict orthodoxy, and some have given up on Jewish ritual altogether, but many of these Jews have been in the forefront of social movements for bettering the lot of humanity -- labor unions, socialism, civil rights. Yes, some of the ideas are wrongheaded and counterproductive, but the unselfish and altruistic goals have their root in their Jewish cultural heritage. It's not a coincidence and it is not foreign to our people.
I have lived in Israel for over 40 years, and I am a religious Zionist. I am very proud when I see Israel (and Jews) helping all over the world when there are natural disasters and building collapses and plagues. And even when we help sick Palestinians from Gaza and Syrian refugees. It's the right, and Jewish, thing to do and it doesn't hurt our image. And it's tikkun olam.
The final paragraph
"Perhaps the most revealing fact about modern-day Tikkun Olam is that in Israel — the Jewish homeland and the center of Jewish civilization — you never hear Israelis invoke it as a social, religious, or cultural value. Such an absence is telling. If this concept doesn’t exist in the vocabulary of the Jewish homeland, then it’s safe to say that Tikkun Olam in its modern form is not Jewish at all."
is completely wrong both in its premise and the logic that the author uses to reach a conclusion. There are plenty of Israelis (maybe he doesn't personally know any) who believe in Tikkun Olam. Many participate in "peace-corps" type missions abroad in Asia and Africa. I personally know Israelis who have participated in these activities, and many more who support them. And even if there weren't, since when is something which does not inherently start in Israel but rather comes from the diaspora, like for example Simhat Torah, women's torah learning, and the Babylonian Talmud, mean that it is "not Jewish at all"?
It's true, as the article says, that the phrase "tikkun olam" has a different meaning in the mishna. So what? As a slogan it is very appropriate. Many times slogans are words taken out of context, and they are still appropriate. I wonder if the author knows that the name of the aliya organization Nefesh b'Nefesh (which probably helped him when he made aliya) comes from Dvarim 19:21 as part of the "eye for an eye" law:
וְלֹא תָחוֹס, עֵינֶךָ: נֶפֶשׁ בְּנֶפֶשׁ, עַיִן בְּעַיִן שֵׁן בְּשֵׁן, יָד בְּיָד, רֶגֶל בְּרָגֶל.
I don't think "capital punishment for murder" is what the founders of the aliya organization had in mind when they chose their name -- but the words fit. So it's a good name.
By the way, the phrase "l'taken olam" (to fix the world), appears in the Aleinu prayer, which predates the mishna (at least according to tradition) by quite a bit. Tikkun Olam is a concept Jews should aspire to, not be ashamed of.
"many of these Jews have been in the forefront of social movements for bettering the lot of humanity -- labor unions, socialism, civil rights."
Thank you, Comrade, for demonstrating the mental illness which still does not understand that socialism is anti-Jewish at its core, robbing the individual of rights and responsibilities, in favor of big vague groups who have no actual agency.
YOUR vision of labor unions and "civil rights" no doubt lies in that Leftist vein; I have no time for that nonsense now. REAL labor unions - some of which my grandfather played a serious role in - were purely CAPITALIST in nature, not socialist.
You cannot be a "religious Zionist" and a "socialist" at the same time, Comrade. Period. It's exactly like being a "Jewish SS Officer."
Thank you for this. I don't know that we need to get rid of Tikkun Olam, as much as shifting the application. We've also misapplied DEI (to exclude Jews) when DEI when correctly applied is inclusive. I appreciate that you've triggered my curiosity, so I've been reading to learn something new. Apparently "'tikkun olam' was first used to refer to social action work in the 1950s" and subsequently applied to social action programs such as tzedakah and gemilut hasadim, according to My Jewish Learning. Instead of a way of looking at all mitzvot, we now look at what has to do with improving society. That's a huge difference.
It makes me think of what happened to "The Meaning of the Nakba" as historian and intellectual Konstantin Zurayq who first described and wrote about it this way: "The defeat of the Arabs in Palestine is not a small downfall - naksa... It is a catastrophe - nakba - in every sense of the word... Seven Arab countries declare war on Zionism in Palesting... Seven countries go to war to abolish the partition and to defeat Zionism, and quickly leave the battle after losing much of the land of Palestine - and even the part that was given to the Arabs in the Partition Plan." Translation of the original and analsyes are all available online. Societies seem now to accept Nakba as the expulsion of Arabs, since Arafat redefined and made it into a special day.
All that is to say reinventing history can have untintended consequences. Understanding, accepting, rethinking the true origins of a word or phrase can help to see and approach the world differently.
"Judaism has always organized responsibility in concentric circles: family, community, peoplehood, and only then humanity"
Yep, an' growin' up (fer whatever reason) mah fam AND mah Reform temple only/trooly stuck with the first three on that list--mostly the first two. At home we called it "Do Something Dummy" (meanin' don't jus' stand there if help is needed). That means at home--don't let'cher bubbe drop the turkey if ya see she's strugglin' ta git out outta the oven. That means with relatives--"go visit yer Auntie, she's got the cummies in her tummy & she's lonely." That means helpin' her neighbor if they need a hand, helpin' out at "skool" or at camp, temple, etc. They need volunteers? raise a hand!. Beyond that--beyond the intimately local--the only other kinda help we were ta give in the DSD mode was to Israel. I accompanied my gran' with her little tin can collectin' fer Hadassah an' then helped stuff those little cardboard coin rolls. An' that's about it... OH an' if sumbuddy's bleedin' out on the subway fer gottsakes call the MTA SOS! (BOTH my hubby & I sadly have been there AN' done that--more 'n once)
More good stuff on this important toe-pick!
you'll find a fine stack onnit by Sam Hilt here:
https://samhilt.substack.com/p/dont-drink-the-kool-aid-the-dark
An' a 'nuther authro wrote a book too!
https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/to-heal-the-world-how-the-jewish-left-corrupts-judaism-and-endangers-israel
https://www.amazon.com/Heal-World-Corrupts-Judaism-Endangers/dp/1250160871
I'd say don't ban T.O. but define it properly an' tell young'uns whut it IS cuz clearly whoever's teachin' 'em is clueless :-(
Daisy, I probably agree with your concepts, but I find your writing style too distracting to absorb its content. Being somewhat OCD about grammar and spelling myself, I wonder what YOU gain by so much effort to appear less intelligent than you are.
I git'cha... I'm oft-asked an' when I'm asked politely I do reply... but by all means skip ahead an' walk on by (like the Bacharach song!) if ya ain't got time--won't bother me a bit
Therez many a reason why I write like I do... but in brief...
1. it keeps the bots & trolls away, foils AI (fer now--they cain't imitate/spoof me!), ergo lets me name names! (I have mah own stack an' I write 'bout controversial stuff that could git me in hot warter if I didn't have a layer or two of protection! Mah vernacular ain't bulletproof--but it sho' nuff helps!)
2. folks don't git too bent outta shape takin' to a self-annointed crackpot (haha), an' as a currently unemployed "act-truss" (due ta not takin' the clot-shot countermeasures), it allows me ta ply mah trade in print an' in character writin' in the vernacular (which I may say amuses me a bit)...
As I stated, I got mah own stack too fwiw so I'm consistent across all platforms...
3. Also those that wanna take time ta git mah drift know I'm off'in full-out sin-sear (cornball aside!) but the camp diffuses some'a the hate (which otherwise tends ta be wielded like a scimitar--specially now'daze where many don't take kindly to us "chews" or our thorny opinions!). An' indeed I spend a lotta time defendin' "us joos" on not-zo-friendly sites so havin' this quirky little diffuser reduces some've the ugly...
Believe u me, I do still git sum threats (privately even!) but likely not half as dire as would be expected. Yer lookin' at the Motley Fool vs the Queen (in proximity ta the virtual gee-oh-tine)....
4. Those that wanna ignore what I contribute are free ta do so... y'all kin just skip on down ta the next com-mint. I know de-cipher-'in whut I write takes time!
5. Folks that once upon a star were used ta readin' accents an' who enjoyed the likes of Al Capp (hoid've Lil' Abner?), Mark Twain, James Whitcomb Reilly, an' Joel Chandler Harris (not ta mention S.J. Perleman!) seem ta best appreciate mah style...
Fully understand that what one reader barely tolerates the next one gen-u-ine-ly enjoys.... Some crack a smile, others shake a fist... I don't mind one bit!
Howz dat fer an answer?
ps curious...when ya read (if ya do) Twain 'er Reilly or others writin' in the vernacular (heck even Faulkner duz so) do ya write 'em all off due ta the grammatical games they play OR label 'em "dumb" 'er less intelligent an' dismiss 'em cuz they ain't usin' the Queens English? (jus' askin'....I surely don't put m'self in their catty-gory, not even close, but many t'day would write 'em ALL off not appreciatin' dialect...'er style)
Josh. You know I love this column because we corresponded about the ideas you so brilliantly expose. Bravo Bravo Bravo and thank you. This columns should be published in Tablet and in the Jewish Forward! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ חנוכה שמ 🕎