![]() Needless to say, they draw from the Torah, which speaks endlessly about loving the stranger and the poor. Virtually all the prophets talk tirelessly about the need to create a just and ethical society, many of their words sound pretty much like a 21 st century Tikkun Olam manifesto. Nor are the concepts of Jewish social justice and universal morality, to which Tikkun Olam has come to refer. Critics love to grouse that liberal Jews “forget” the context-Aleinu envisions that God (not us) will “repair the world in the Kingship of God”-but the more important point is that “Tikkun Olam” wasn’t some phrase invented in the 1970s by Rabbi Michael Lerner and other hippie Jews. The “Aleinu”, one of the oldest Jewish prayers, contains the phrase “repair the world” ( letaken olam). It appears already in the Mishnah, where it refers to social policy legislation providing extra protection to those potentially at a disadvantage. But let’s start with what the critics get wrong, which is most of it.įirst, the phrase “Tikkun Olam” is at least as old as Rabbinic Judaism itself. One can say a lot about our infatuation with Tikkun Olam, and I will. Listen to "What Gives?" the Jewish philanthropy podcast from JFN. These critics accuse the left of taking an obscure mystical term, changing its meaning, and crowning it as the ruling principle of Jewish experience. “True” Judaism is deeply conservative instead of liberal, and Jews should abandon their cosmopolitanism to go back to our tribalist roots. Jews, they imply, have responsibility for themselves, not for the world. For them, the “Tikkun Olam movement” makes a marginal idea of Judaism into its core value. In a slightly conspiratorial tone, they surmise that lefties hijack the communal agenda and make it subservient to progressive goals. ![]() The most strident critics - and the most politically motivated - say that Tikkun Olam is not a Jewish idea at all, but merely liberal politics masquerading as Jewish values. It’s not yet an all-out frontal assault, but it seems that right-wing pundits - Jewish and non-Jewish alike - are picking a fight with the idea. ![]() ![]() However, lately there seems to be a concerted attack on the idea of Tikkun Olam. They note, rightly, that there’s a big overlap between those liberal values and traditional Jewish ones. They often equate it with “holding liberal values” broadly understood, and consider these values a key component of the American Jewish experience. ![]() Around 70% of Jews in America believe that “working for justice and equality” is a key part of what being Jewish is all about. It also draws abundantly from Torah and prophetic visions of justice and peace that stress the human capacity of bringing them to fruition.Īmerican Jews have widely adopted Tikkun Olam as a central tenet of their identities. Tikkun Olam connects with a basic, timeless idea in Jewish theology: that human beings are responsible for completing God’s creation and improving the world. Lately there seems to be a concerted attack on the idea of Tikkun Olam. Critics say Tikkun Olam is not a Jewish idea, but merely liberal politics masquerading as Jewish values.įew Hebrew idioms are so well known in the American Jewish community as “Tikkun Olam”, “repair of the world.” The term is understood in modern America as the idea that Jews are called upon to make the world more just, peaceful, tolerant, and equal, through acts of charity, kindness, and political action. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |