What is Tikkun Olam, really?
Little known fact about me: the second paragraph of the Aleinu prayer, which is actually the only place "tikkun olam" shows up in our liturgy, is far and away my favorite portion of services. Has been for several years. In fact, I was really upset when a fellow BCIer from my aliyah (shout out to July 2001!) admitted that she didn't say that paragraph because she felt it to be too exclusionary and antiquated, because it talked about the whole world accepting monotheism in a less-than-PC way. Needless to say, we respectfully debated that topic for the rest of the summer. What is it about those few sentences? Well, I love the tune, but mostly I connect deeply with the Messianic hope of a global revelation, with people of all races and nationalities embracing the importance of monotheism and accepting the burden of mending a broken world.
In the previous post, Alyson started discussing one of the topics from our Heritage class discussion. Well, last night's discussion was also pretty interesting. Our teacher, Erica Brown, was pushing an important point: not every act of kindness we perform is really tikkun olam (repairing the world). In fact, the concept of healing the world is really a grass-roots effort to systematically affect change in the world. In other words, painting a homeless
shelter is not really tikkun olam (here is a picture of Alyson and I doing just that on Christmas Day last year); rather, advocating for an end to poverty and hunger is the real way to be a "light unto the nations."
Amongst our classmates, this view was extremely controversial. One student said, "We only have so much time, energy, and resources. We're trying to help the world, but all of a sudden, what we're doing isn't good enough!" Another student made the point, "This borders on self-loathing. We Jews do a great job helping shape and improve the world--why can't we just be satisfied with what we are doing?" Because Erica was challenging the fundamental concept of tikkun olam--which many of us learned in pre-school--it was difficult for many of my classmates to accept that some of their favorite charitable activities were no longer qualified for that important designation.
Although I see both points, I think that this is a really important debate to be having. It raises all the questions that I've been dealing with ever since becoming a full-time fundraising professional. How strategic should we be in our philanthropy and volunteerism? What are the requirements necessary to lift a simple act of lovingkindness to the status of tikkun olam? How hard should we be pushing ourselves to improve our society - and when can we feel satisfied that we are doing and giving enough to improve this world?
The answers are few and far between. But one thing I am excited about is how our year in Russia fits into the tikkun olam jigsaw puzzle. For the first time since returning from OTZMA, I get to attack a root problem, instead of its symptoms. In my work at Hillel, I've been constantly dealing with how to engage Jewish students once they've already made the decision that Judaism isn't a critical piece of their lives. And at Federation, the challenge is convincing people that tzedakah is something they should live every day and with a portion of every dollar they earn - something they should have learned at home growing up!
In St. Petersburg, I have the opportunity to work with a community that doesn't have to deal with the same systematic pitfalls so common to the American Jewish landscape. Now, I'm under no illusions that this is somehow a blank canvas, just waiting for Alyson and I to paint a masterpiece. On the contrary--we are quickly learning about all the struggles and challenges of the Russian Jewish community. But the bottom line is that this is a younger, more malleable community that will hopefully be receptive to my overtures and open to my creative ideas in a way that my fellow Americans have never been.
This year in SPG is a chance to really enact tikkun olam on a daily basis. Instead of pulling weeds from a garden, knowing that they will always grow back again, this is our chance to lay down new soil and select what plants will grow there. Our ultimate goal shouldn't be what we did to repair and build the Russian Jewish community - it should be what we empowered the community to do for itself, both during our trip and long after we leave.
May the Lord give us the strength and wisdom to live out the values of tikkun olam, to teach them to those around us, and to inspire our community to put those values into action.
In the previous post, Alyson started discussing one of the topics from our Heritage class discussion. Well, last night's discussion was also pretty interesting. Our teacher, Erica Brown, was pushing an important point: not every act of kindness we perform is really tikkun olam (repairing the world). In fact, the concept of healing the world is really a grass-roots effort to systematically affect change in the world. In other words, painting a homeless
shelter is not really tikkun olam (here is a picture of Alyson and I doing just that on Christmas Day last year); rather, advocating for an end to poverty and hunger is the real way to be a "light unto the nations."Amongst our classmates, this view was extremely controversial. One student said, "We only have so much time, energy, and resources. We're trying to help the world, but all of a sudden, what we're doing isn't good enough!" Another student made the point, "This borders on self-loathing. We Jews do a great job helping shape and improve the world--why can't we just be satisfied with what we are doing?" Because Erica was challenging the fundamental concept of tikkun olam--which many of us learned in pre-school--it was difficult for many of my classmates to accept that some of their favorite charitable activities were no longer qualified for that important designation.
Although I see both points, I think that this is a really important debate to be having. It raises all the questions that I've been dealing with ever since becoming a full-time fundraising professional. How strategic should we be in our philanthropy and volunteerism? What are the requirements necessary to lift a simple act of lovingkindness to the status of tikkun olam? How hard should we be pushing ourselves to improve our society - and when can we feel satisfied that we are doing and giving enough to improve this world?
The answers are few and far between. But one thing I am excited about is how our year in Russia fits into the tikkun olam jigsaw puzzle. For the first time since returning from OTZMA, I get to attack a root problem, instead of its symptoms. In my work at Hillel, I've been constantly dealing with how to engage Jewish students once they've already made the decision that Judaism isn't a critical piece of their lives. And at Federation, the challenge is convincing people that tzedakah is something they should live every day and with a portion of every dollar they earn - something they should have learned at home growing up!
In St. Petersburg, I have the opportunity to work with a community that doesn't have to deal with the same systematic pitfalls so common to the American Jewish landscape. Now, I'm under no illusions that this is somehow a blank canvas, just waiting for Alyson and I to paint a masterpiece. On the contrary--we are quickly learning about all the struggles and challenges of the Russian Jewish community. But the bottom line is that this is a younger, more malleable community that will hopefully be receptive to my overtures and open to my creative ideas in a way that my fellow Americans have never been.
This year in SPG is a chance to really enact tikkun olam on a daily basis. Instead of pulling weeds from a garden, knowing that they will always grow back again, this is our chance to lay down new soil and select what plants will grow there. Our ultimate goal shouldn't be what we did to repair and build the Russian Jewish community - it should be what we empowered the community to do for itself, both during our trip and long after we leave.
May the Lord give us the strength and wisdom to live out the values of tikkun olam, to teach them to those around us, and to inspire our community to put those values into action.
posted by Matt Fieldman at 10:28 PM
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