JULY 29 • 2021 | 15

T

ikkun olam means repair-
ing the world, and Rabbi 
Marla Feldman calls for 
Jews and everyone who cares 
about the world to engage in 
social justice. 
Feldman is executive director 
of New York City-based Women 
of Reform Judaism. Look at the 
group’s website and see the God-
embedded actions of tikkun olam 
— from American race relations 
to poverty to women’s repro-
ductive rights and genocide and 
to the creation of Israel and the 
peace process with Palestinians. 
Feldman’s activism, which 
began in her youth, has informed 
her role as a pioneering female 
rabbi and a brave and bold leader. 
She had to weather wage inequali-
ty. She was rejected by some syna-
gogues because she was a woman. 
Nonetheless, she has evolved into 
an effective leader who has cared 
for her congregations and worked 
on struggles like combating geno-

cide in Bosnia and Darfur and 
rescuing Ethiopian Jews. 
She worked as assistant director 
of the Jewish Community Council 
of Metropolitan Detroit from 
1996-2002 and taught Holocaust 
Studies at the University of 
Detroit-Mercy from 1998-2001.
Feldman is devoted to Reform 
Judaism and its basic covenant: 
Jews are obligated to partner with 
God and each other to make the 
world a better place. We are all 
made in the image of God, and 
thus everyone is valuable. For 
Feldman’s flock, this means includ-
ing all types of people like those 
with different gender identities, 
those from different backgrounds, 
women and people of color. 
“There needs to be space for 
everyone where anyone can walk 
in the door,
” she said. 
The scourge of genocide in 
the world is one area where 
Feldman has passionate beliefs. 
Overcoming the unthinkable 

practice of mass murder is a 
momentous task, but God and 
humans have a role in repair-
ing the overwhelming damage, 
Feldman said. Moreover, because 
of the Holocaust, she said she and 
fellow Jews understand the gravity 
of the wretched crime, and thus, 
are especially poised to mend it. 
Feldman said caring humans 
and their emotional relationship 
with God can end atrocity and 
restore humane morality. As she 
helped with Bosnia and Darfur, 
humans can protest genocides by 
placing it on the public radar and 
urging the world to intervene. 
When the evil ends, people can 
rebuild human relations. Feldman 
explains how genocide is about 
dehumanizing others. Thus, see-
ing each other as equally human 
can mitigate genocides from ever 
happening again. 

HELPING THE NEEDY
Helping the poor is a paramount 
purpose in Judaism. Feldman said 
the Torah tells Jews they have a 
duty to help the poor. She went on 
to say that Maimonides, the great 
Jewish scholar and sincere think-
er, delineated what this means for 
Jews. As they partner with God, 
generous givers need to partner 
with the poor. The giver’s success 
is linked to the poor person’s 
success. Their relationship means 
that the poor can escape poverty 
and keep what they earned so 
they can be self-sufficient. 
Feldman refers to a passage 
from Isaiah that is often told on 
Yom Kippur, “
And if you draw 
your soul to the hungry and sat-
isfy the afflicted soul, then shall 
your light to a rise in darkness … 
And then Lord shall guide you 
continually and satisfy your soul.
” 
Feldman has mixed views on 
the social safety net. She thinks it 
has gaps that must be addressed 
to help the needy. One example is 
wage inequality for women. For 
sure, as women head many fami-
lies, they face poverty and cannot 
provide for their families when 
they are underpaid, Feldman said. 

Nonetheless, she said 
Americans can be proud of the 
heroic progress they have made 
dealing with poverty. Feldman 
agrees that policies for women 
like Women Infants and Children 
(WIC), a nutrition program, and 
President Biden’s child tax credit, 
which will reduce child poverty by 
a half, are good and sensible poli-
cies. Moreover, she said the fortifi-
cation of Medicare and Medicaid 
is good for all Americans. 

RACIAL RELATIONS
Race in America is another area 
that Feldman cares about. Because 
Jews were enslaved in Egypt and 
were treated like pariahs, they 
can identify and have solidarity 
with African Americans and their 
privation. 
Feldman rues the structural 
racism in America. When asked 
why it matters, she said: “The 
simple one-word answer is: jus-
tice. If we live in a society that is 
just then we need to treat people 
equally and fairly.
”
She discussed policy challenges 
that must be addressed in the 
criminal justice system. She said 
the overincarceration of African 
American men and the school-
to-prison pipeline are particularly 
deleterious. Feldman believes 
that Americans must have a deep 
conversation about the roots of 
racism in America. “This discus-
sion, I believe, can give Americans 
of all races and religions hope for 
racial reconciliation. 
“The suffering in the world 
needs good care and a momen-
tous love to mend it. Tikkun olam 
teaches us how to effect such 
change. With God’s help, we can 
heal the sick and clothe the naked; 
we can nurture goodness and tol-
erance; we can free innocents and 
we can save lives in a turbulent 
world,
” she said. 
Feldman added: “It’s not going 
to happen with one person or one 
community. It’s going to require 
people of good will who share 
common values coming together 
to live those values.
” 

CAROLINE CUNNINGHAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rabbi Marla 
Feldman

Repairing
the World

Ex-Detroiter Marla Feldman is a 
moving advocate for tikkun olam. 

