Tikkun Olam

The Mishnah is the first important collection of the works of rabbinic Judaism, and dates to the 200's of the Common Era. It is a profound and complicated, highly studied and debated and beloved collection of insights and debates that date all the way back to the destruction of the Temple in 70 of the Common Era. The Mishnah is the first place where the phrase (and the concept) of tikkun olam (Hebrew for "healing" or "repairing the world") appears in written form. Since then tikkun olam refers to the idea that among the tasks of the faithful if the repairing of our broken world. In modern times tikkun olam has become largely synonymous with the notion of social action and the pursuit of social justice.

In the 1500's, Rabbi Issac Luria was perhaps the most energized and widely followed teacher of Kabbalah, a term identified with a wide range of Jewish mystical practices (see press stories of Kabbalah's resurgence among celebrities). He talked about tikkun olam this way...

God formed the world by forming vessels of light to hold the Divine Light. But as God poured the Light into the vessels, the vessels were not able to contain it, and they shattered, and tumbled down throughout all creation. Thus, this world consists of an infinite number of shards of the original vessels that still have trapped sparks of the Divine Light. The great and noble task of humanity has to do with helping God free and unite this imprisoned and scattered Light, and, in the process, restoring the shattered world.

Do I think that Rabbi Isaac expected his students (or us) to consider take that teaching "literally?" Of course not. Do I think his imagery can help us get our imaginations around the notion of a very widespread Divine Presence occupying the same "reality" as a hurting and broken world?

You bet.