Tikkun Olam?

In the literature of Kabbalah, Tikkun refers to the spiritual and G-dly sparks that are imprisoned in the physical world. All physical objects contain powerful sparks of holiness but are incapable of expressing themselves. By performing a Mitzvah, which invariably involves a physical object, we liberate these sparks from their entanglement with the physical. As a result of the extraordinary G-dly energy that our Mitzvos release, the entire world is transformed into an utterly Divine world. SHUVAH SHUVAH

The Ultimate Song

The entire Torah is referred to as a song based on the poetic style of this week’s parsha—Ha’azinu. It is said that this parsha encapsulates all of Jewish history and is, in a certain sense, a micro version of the Torah.

It is no surprise that this parsha is read either on the Shabbos that precedes Yom Kippur or the Shabbos that follows it. The pivotal nature of this parsha provides us with insight and inspiration preparing us to come before G-d on the holiest day of the year and reconnect with Him.

Moreover, the fact that we read this parsha at the anniversary of Creation indicates that it conveys a universal message; a message that relates to us, the recipients of the Torah, as it pertains to the entire world In that spirit, let us reflect on one of the verses in this week’s parsha:

SHUVAH

Seventy for Seventy

“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the portion of the L-rd is His people Jacob the lot of His inheritance.”

Rashi explains that this verse describes the way G-d created the 70 root nations after the Tower of Babel debacle. He chose the number 70 because it would correspond to the 70 members of the Patriarch Jacob’s family. And despite the evil perpetrated by the nations before the flood and which continued while building the Tower of Babel, G-d preserved the 70 nations for the sake of Israel, who was to descend from Shem, the son of Noah.

The question may be raised, why is it so important to know that the number of nations correlates with the number of Jews who began our sojourn in Egypt so long ago? If the purpose of this verse is to establish the importance of the Jewish nation, for whose sake he preserved the other nations, notwithstanding their iniquity, what difference does it make if there were 70 nations and 70 original Jewish family members?

The answer lies in a better understanding of the role of the Jewish nation vis-à-vis the rest of humanity. The Jewish people were not chosen just for our own sake. We were SHUVAH chosen for a larger purpose that is both internal and external. Indeed, these two roles are interwoven.

Tikkun Olam: Social Justice?

In recent times, we often hear people speaking of Tikkun Olam. In its contemporary incarnation, Tikkun Olam is understood as the Jewish people’s need to repair the world by assisting the other nations, sticking up for the downtrodden and acting as the world’s conscience.

In truth, while Judaism does indeed require Jews to spread their generosity and compassion beyond their own communities and to care for everyone, it does not encourage us to focus all or most of our attention on assisting non-Jewish interests, while neglecting Jewish needs.

The above sentiment is clearly enunciated in the Talmud and other authoritative Jewish texts. It is neatly summed up by the popular adage: “Charity begins at home.” Without getting into the minute details of this law, suffice it to say that our primary focus should be directed toward our own Jewish community.

To be sure, the Talmud exhorts us to not be content with helping our own but also give to others, beyond our own community. The rationale for that extended charity is not SHUVAH based on the spirit of Tikkun Olam, but rather with an entirely separate principle, which is: Darkei Shalom- Peaceful ways. By extending a helping hand to others, we promote peace and harmony, one of Judaism’s most important ideals.

If reaching out to other nations is Darkei Shalom, and not Tikkun Olam, what then is Tikkun Olam?

To answer that question we must trace the phrase Tikkun Olam to its liturgical, Talmudic and Kabbalistic roots.

In the Liturgy

In the Aleinu prayer (composed by Joshua, Moses’ successor, recited thrice daily and incorporated in the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy), we beseech G-d to “repair the world (alternatively, “establish the world”) under the sovereignty of G-d.” In the context of prayer it expresses our hope that the nations of the world will cease to worship idols and eventually recognize the sovereignty of one G-d. It is clearly not a prayer about Jewish activism for universal social justice but rather the abolition of false gods and the values they embody.

The lack of a moral foundation drives much of the breakdown of societal norms of ethics and morality that necessitate activism to repair the world. The secularization SHUVAH of the world, with its concomitant secular humanistic approach to ethics and morality, undermines the very efforts society makes to civilize itself.

An ethical system that is situational, relativistic and constantly evolving cannot claim to be better than the system it replaced or the systems that will come to replace it.

Secular humanistic morality, with its relativistic ethics, may occasionally come up with an ethical approach that is temporarily consistent with G-d’s absolute approach to morality; far more often, it will leave us groping in the dark and remain a root cause of the breakdown of modern society.

When the nations of the world—to whom we are commanded by G-d to teach morality based on the Seven Noahide commandments—recognize that all valid morality derives from one immutable G-d, whose moral teachings are also unchangeable, our world will be repaired and social justice will prevail.

In the Talmud

When we turn to the Talmud, we see that Tikkun Olam refers to the rabbinic enactments that were designed to safeguard Jewish law and Jewish life. Tikkun Olam has SHUVAH absolutely nothing to do with our relationship with other nations. It is all about preserving the integrity of the Torah and of the Jewish community.

Although it appears at first glance to be a wholly insular ideal, Tikkun Olam does have an impact on the outside world as well. When our observance of Jewish law is flawless and the integrity our own Jewish society is protected, we can be so much more effective in influencing others and help them repair their own breaches.

Moreover, if the highest form of Tzedakah is to teach a person how to stand on his own two feet the same is true with respect to spiritual Tzedakah. If we want the world to be governed by social justice, we must give them the tools to achieve that. We provide the tools, first, by serving as an example, a “light unto the nations.”

In addition, as Maimonides’ instruct us, we must do our part by teaching the Seven Noahide Commandments (which are actually seven categories of commandments) to non-Jews. These commandments are: to reject idolatry; not to blaspheme G-d; not to commit theft; not to commit murder; not to commit sexual crimes; not to eat an animal without first killing it; and to establish a judiciary.

SHUVAH

In Kabbalah

In the literature of Kabbalah, Tikkun refers to the spiritual and G-dly sparks that are imprisoned in the physical world. All physical objects contain powerful sparks of holiness but are incapable of expressing themselves. By performing a Mitzvah, which invariably involves a physical object, we liberate these sparks from their entanglement with the physical. As a result of the extraordinary G-dly energy that our Mitzvos release, the entire world is transformed into an utterly Divine world.

Where are these sparks of G-dly energy most potent and ubiquitous? The answer is in the countries of the other nations. In short, our exile amongst the other nations is purposeful, and affords us the opportunity to reach and liberate the most powerful sparks.

Towards this goal, the Jewish people have been scattered by exile to the places where the sparks of holiness are most securely ensconced and imprisoned. With our performance of Mitzvos in exile, our resistance to assimilation and by overcoming all the obstacles posed by our existence among the nations, we can liberate these sparks and successfully change the world and repair it under the sovereignty of G- d.

This explains why the Torah connects the 70 nations to the 70 original Israelites. It underscores the mission of the SHUVAH Jewish people to the 70 nations (through the promulgation of the 7 Noahide Mitzvos). The power to achieve this was given to us when Jacob entered into Egypt, the first and forerunner of all subsequent exiles, with 70 souls.

The Process of Liberating Sparks is Over!

When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they were responsible for the intermingling of good and evil in our world.

The Rebbe, with his unparalleled knowledge of all facets of Torah, coupled with his prophetic vision, informed us that the perennial mission of liberating the sparks that were scattered when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit has drawn to a close!

Our mission now, the Rebbe stated, is to prepare ourselves and those around us for the coming of Moshiach and the imminent Redemption, at which time we will see the fruit of our labors. We will be privileged to see a world that is fully repaired, in every sense of the word; a world that will experience genuine and everlasting peace.

Peace, and all the other blessings promised by the Torah for the Messianic Age, will come about as we are inundated with an acute awareness of G-d’s presence. All of the SHUVAH energy generated by our Mitzvos today will be ours to harness for the total repair and elevation of our world.

At that time we will also see how—in the words of the Torah in this week’s parsha at the end of the song—“The nations will sing praises for His people…” The nations of the world will also be rectified and will sing praises for the Jewish people.

SHUVAH

SHUVAH

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Haazinu by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.