SPIRIT

W

hether your background is
Reform, Conservative or
Orthodox, the term tikkun
olam occupies a special place in Jewish
practice. It is the teaching that we are
here to try to fix, even per-
fect, this imperfect world
through a variety of posi-
tive actions.
But there seems to be
quite a disparity as to what
kinds of actions this refers
to. Many Jews view tik-
kun olam as having a very
specific role, with social action being the
focus. However, when we look at tikkun
olam from a fresh perspective, we see
that it is not so Jewish in origin, but it
is so very Jewish in defining our unique
purpose.
For starters, we are often told that this
is a uniquely Jewish belief. However, we
see that all of humanity is involved in this
pursuit, not because they learned it in
Hebrew school or yeshivah. Most of the
world population never met a Jew, but
many are doing tikkun olam daily.
The fact is that tikkun olam is not
Jewish in nature and it is not even a belief.
It is universal in nature and something
that all humans are hard-wired to accom-
plish. People throughout the world, of all
backgrounds and belief systems, want to
make the world a better place to live in.

They do not necessarily do it out of belief.
Most people naturally find that it
feels good to help another person, solve
a problem no matter how small or fix
something that’s broken. Those with
children do it because they want their
children to live in a better world. These
seemingly mundane acts not related to
social action add up over time to help
improve our world in all sorts of ways,
big and small. People everywhere feel in
their gut that this is part of their purpose
in life.
As proud as we Jews are of the high
percentage of Jewish Nobel Prize winners,
most of the world’s scientific, governmen-
tal, technological and material progress
has been made through non-Jews.
In my book, Eight Paths of Purpose, I
explain eight different applications of
tikkun olam, which all of humanity can
fulfill. Social action is but one of them.
These paths propose that we make tik-
kun olam a practical part of life for every
human being. We have opportunities to
fulfill our purpose in life and to answer
the call of tikkun olam every day. It is not
reserved just for lofty goals and accom-
plishments, but needs to be applied to our
mundane lives, including the tests and
obstacles we face.
So, you may wonder, is there any
unique Jewish connection to tikkun
olam? The answer is a powerful yes.

From the times of Abraham and Sarah
(more than 3,700 years ago), Jews have
taught the world about values, morals,
mitzvos and the belief in monotheism.
Through the centuries, basic Jewish values
have been accepted by billions. Christianity
and Islam built their systems on the foun-
dation of the Torah. Our impact on world
history has been totally out of proportion
to our numbers; not necessarily because of
what we fixed but rather because of what
we taught the world.
We continue this tradition by striving
to serve as a “light amongst the nations”
(the prophet Isaiah) and by teaching our
children not only how to “fix the world,”
but also how to draw God’s presence down
even to the most mundane aspects of life.
This effort is what we refer to three
times a day in the Aleinu prayer —
“L’takain olam b’malchus Sha-dai” (fixing the
world in God’s dominion — a term cred-
ited to Joshua more than 3,200 years ago).
This is something uniquely Jewish!
So, don’t stop making the world a better
place but do also remember to align your-
selves with this unique Jewish approach to
tikkun olam that looks at the potential for
every act, no matter its size, to be an act of
tikkun olam. It’s the Jewish thing to do.

Rabbi Tuvia Teldon is the founder and regional
director of Chabad on Long Island, New York. He
serves on the executive committee of Chabad.org.

Tikkun Olam —

Rabbi Tuvia
Teldon

32 | JUNE 3 • 2021

It’s Not
Just a Jewish
Concept