Tikkun olam (Hebrew: ????? ???? ? ( literally >, "the restoration of the world", the alternate , "construction for immortality") is a concept in Judaism, interpreted in Orthodox Judaism as the prospect of overcoming all forms of idolatry, and by other Jewish denominations as aspirations to behave and act constructively and useful.
The documented usage of the term dates back to the Mishnaic period. Since the Middle Ages, kabbalistic literature has expanded the use of the term. In the modern era, among the post of the Ashkenazi Haskalah movement,
Video Tikkun olam
Histori
The sentence tikkun olam is included in Aleinu , part of the Jewish congregation prayer. The Aleinu begged the Lord:
- Hebrew:
" ????? ?????? ?????, ?????? ??????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????- Translation:
"To quickly see your great splendor, to remove the disgusting (idolatry) from the ground, and the false (gods) will be completely 'cut off', to tahken olam in the kingdom of God" > - Translation:
In other words, when everyone in the world abandoned false gods and knew God, the world would be perfected.
Therefore we share partnerships with God, human beings are instructed to take steps to improve the state of the world and help others, simultaneously bringing more honors to the sovereignty of God. Some scholars, however, argue that the phrase in the prayer of Aleinu is not a valid source for the concepts of theaters, and that the confusion arises because the homonym '/i> "(spelled differently, ???? ?) which means" to set up "rather than" fix "or" fix. "There are many sources where the ???? ? congratulations today.Section of Aleinu is basically a prayer for the establishment of the kingdom of God and therefore the reading ???? fits much better and more plausible, if so, the meaning of the phrase is like, "to establish God's sovereignty over the world."
The meaning of the term in the Talmud is "to make decisions that make difficult obligations easier." Usually unrelated to eschatological use.
The Conservative American prayer book, Siddur Sim Shalom , published by Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Yudaism, "A Prayer for Our Country" includes verses, "May all citizens of all races and faiths bond together together in true harmony to repel all hatred and bigotry "and" unite everyone in peace and freedom and help them to fulfill the vision of your prophet: 'The nation will not lift the sword against the nation, they will not experience war again./span> "These two lines expressly express the idea of ​​universal equality, freedom, and peace for all.
Prayer Mi Sheberach blesses everyone who is sick and needs healing.
The prayer book of the 1975 United States Renewal Movement, Gates of Prayer, contains the text "You [God] has taught us to uphold the fall, heal the sick, free the prisoners, to comfort all those who are sick" ( 383). Maps Tikkun olam
Lurianic Kabbalah
Lurianic Kabbalah abides in the role of prayer and rituals in tikkun olam . According to this vision of the world, God contracts part of God into light vessels - some of which limit themselves - to create the world. These ships are destroyed and their fragments become sparks of light trapped within the material of creation. Prayer, especially the contemplation of various aspects of divinity (sephirot ), releases these sparks from God and allows them to reunite with God's essence, bringing them closer to a definite world. According to Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, in his book Derech Hashem, the physical world is connected to the spiritual world above which affects the physical world, and furthermore, the Jews have the ability, through physical deeds and free will, to direct and control of this spiritual power. God's desire in creation is that God's creation will ultimately recognize the unity of God and overcome evil; this will shape perfection ( tikkun ) creation. While the Jews have the Torah now and are conscious of the unity of God, some believe that when all human beings recognize this fact, the correction will be complete. In recent years Jewish thinkers and activists have used Lurianic Kabbalah to raise various ethics and rituals of mitzvot into motion acts. These Jews believe that prayer not only lifts divine sparks but also performs all mitzvot, including those traditionally understood as ethics. The application of Lurianic's vision to improve the world can be seen on Jewish blogs, High Holiday sermons and on-line Jewish learning resource centers.
The relationship between Lurianic conceptions of tikkun olam and ethical actions provides significance for even small acts of kindness and minor improvement of social policy. However, this association could become a double-edged sword and begin to trigger criticism even within the social justice community. On the one hand, seeing each act as increasing the divine spark can motivate people to act by giving them the hope that their actions will have long-term value. On the other hand, if this is done in a way that separates the concepts of tikkun olam from other meanings such as those found in rabbinic literature and Aleinu prayers, the risks of privileging acts that have no real meaning and represents a personal agenda introduced.
The application of the Lurianic Kabbalah to the ethics of mitzvot and social action is striking because Lurianic Kabbalah sees itself as improving God and the world to come from this world and its social relationships. Author Lawrence Fine points to two Lurianic Kabbalah features that make him adapt to the ethics of mitzvot and social action. First, it shows that the newly recovered generation of the Holocaust tragedy resonates with the image of a destroyed ship. Secondly, both the Lurianic Kabbalah and ethical understanding of tikkun olam emphasize the role of human responsibility and action.
Performance mitzvot
Jews believe that performing the mitzvot ritual (good deeds, commandments, connections, or religious duties) is a means of tikkun olam, helping to perfect the world, and that more performance mitzvot will speed the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic Age. This belief has been around since the earliest period of the Talmud. According to the Rabbi Yochanan, quoting the rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai, the Jews will be redeemed when every Jew observes Shabbat (Sabbath) twice in all its details. This shows that tikkun olam will prove successful with the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic Age.
Observing Shabbat
Some people explain the power of Shabbat by its effect on the other six days of the week and their role in moving the people towards the Messianic Age. The Shabbat helped bring about the Messianic Age because Shabbat energized the Jews to work harder to bring the Messianic Age closer for six working days of the week. Because the Shabbat experience gave someone a prelude to the Messianic age, the Sabbath obedience also helped the Jews renew their commitment to bringing the world where love and compassion would reign. This relates to a section on the role of mitzvot (above) which indicates that tikkun olam will prove successful with the coming Messiah and the Messianic Age.
Ethical Behavior
In Jewish thought, the ethics of the mitzvot and mitzvot rituals are important for the process of playing. Maimonides writes that tikkun olam requires effort in the three great "pillars" of Judaism: study of the Torah, acts of kindness, and ritual commands. Some Jews believe that doing mitzvot will create a model society among the Jews, which in turn will affect the rest of the world. By perfecting themselves, their local Jewish community or the state of Israel, the Jews set an example for the whole world. This theme is often repeated in sermons and writings across the Jewish spectrum: Reconstruction, Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox.
Also, mitzvot often has a worldly/practical social effect (in contrast to the mystical effect held by Lurianic Kabbalah).
Tzedakah
Tzedakah is a central theme in Judaism and serves as one of the 613 commands. Tzedakah is used in general language as a charity. Tzedek, root tzedakah, means justice or truth. The tzedakah story is used to produce a more equitable world. Therefore, tzedakah is a means of doing tikkun olam.
Philanthropy is defined as giving money to "promote the common good". Philanthropy is an effective tool in doing tikkun olam because it supports organizations that do direct services. There are many different philanthropic organizations devoted to improving the world. The American Jewish Federation of North America, one of the ten best charities in the world, counts the Olympics as one of the three main principles in which it operates. Similarly, the Jewish World Service of America supports grassroots organizations that create change in Africa, Asia, and America.
The junction between tzedakah, philanthropy, and tikkun olam was captured by Yehudah Mirsky in his article "Tikkun Olam: Basic Questions and Policy Direction." Mirsky writes:
- The rich tradition of tzedakah is a model of communal social responsibility without a strong state of well-being; it also connects to the growing Micro Philanthropy area, which raises a large amount of small donations resulting in more direct interactions between donors and receivers, or "givers" and "perpetrators," higher resolutions in the focus of giving and the creation of new networks of cooperation.
Building a model society
By doing mitzvot , it is believed that Jews will become model communities. This idea is sometimes associated with Bible verses depicting Jews as "the kingdom of priests and the holy people" (Exodus 19: 5-6) and "the Gentiles" or "the light of the nations" ( Isaiah 42: 6 and Isaiah 49: 6). Philosophy Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook stand out in this field, the first rationale and in the case of Jews in the galut (diaspora) affect non neighbors -Yahudi them, and the last in mysticism and in the Zionist term of the Jewish state affecting other countries in the world. Some of the other Orthodox rabbis, many but not all modern Orthodox, followed philosophy similar to Hirsch, including Joseph H. Hertz, Isidore Epstein, and Eliezer Berkovits. Religious Zionism philosophy follows Kook in his philosophy.
In modern Orthodox philosophy (which is often associated with Religious Zionism, especially in America), it is generally believed that mitzvot has a sociological and educational effect practically in this world to those who do it, and in this way < i> mitzvot will perfect the Jews and the world.
According to the rational philosophy of Hirsch and the other, the social and ethical mitzvot almost have a meaning that is quite clear, while rituals mitzvot can serve functions such as educating people or developing relationships between humans and God. For example, good prayer instills relationships between people and God or strengthens the faith and faith of the person who prays, and keeps halal or wears tzitzit functioning as a symbol of education of moral and religious values. As such, the ultimate goal of mitzvot is for moral and religious values ​​and acts to infuse Jews and eventually the whole world, but rituals mitzvot This model tikkun olam , reinforces what ethics can achieve.
Hirsch Horeb is a very important source, as his explanation of his philosophy about mitzvot . He classifies mitzvot into six categories:
- (1) toroth (philosophical doctrine);
- Ethics mitzvot falls below (2) mishpatim and (3) chukim including the human body itself) and (4) mitzvot (love order);
- Ritual mitzvot below (5) edoth (education symbolic command) and (6) avodah God).
Despite the fact that by perfecting themselves, the Jews set an example for the whole world, thus there is an additional difference that the mitzvot has a practical worldly effect - for example, a charity is beneficial to the poor materially, who is a tikkun. olam by the increase of the physical or social world, in contrast to the mystical effect of mitzvot held by Lurianic Kabbalah.
Improving the world
According to the Jewish scholar Lawrence Fine, the first use of the phrase tikkun olam in the history of modern Jews in the United States was by the founder of Brandeis-Bardin Camp Institute, Shlomo Bardin in the 1950s. Bardin interprets the prayer of Aleinu, especially the expression of le-taken olam be-malchut shaddai (usually translated as when the world will be perfected under omnipotent rule ), as a responsibility for the Jews to work towards a better world. As a progressive Jewish leftist organization began to enter the mainstream in the 1970s and 1980s, the phrase tikkun olam began to gain more appeal. This phrase has been adopted by various Jewish organizations, to mean anything from direct service to general philanthropy. It was presented to a vast international audience - itself an indication of how broadly it has now penetrated American Jewish life - when Mordecai Waxman used the phrase in a speech during Pope John Paul II's visit to the United States at September 1987.
For some Jews, the phrase "tikkun olam" means that Jews are not only responsible for creating a model society among themselves but also responsible for the welfare of society at large. This responsibility can be understood in religious, social or political terms and there are many different opinions about how religion, society, and politics interact.
Michael Spiro, a Jewish Reconstructionist, argues for the political validity of the conservative tikkun olam . He argues that the perception that it needs left politics is based on two myths: (a) conservatively uniformly respecting private interests over society and (b) conservatively uniformly opposing women's and homosexual rights. Responding to the myth of self-interest he observed that Adam Smith and the conservatives thereafter emphasized the free market precisely because they believed that was the path to the greatest public good. In addition, the conservatives always emphasize the importance of personal endeavor from the unseen chasadim (benevolence) and the tamedakah (charity or philanthropy). The conservative position is that individuals and society should not use government efforts in lieu of individual and collective responsibility for this mitzvot. In response to the second myth, he argues that the right to position on family values ​​is essentially a matter of process, not content: changes in the right to abortion and gay marriage should be pursued using the legislative rather than judicial > means. Spiro sees concern for the process as a fundamental Jew.
Tikkun olam is used to refer to the Jewish obligation to engage in social action in the Reform and Conservative movements as well. For example, in USY, the Conservative youth movement, the position responsible for social action at the chapter and regional council is called SA/TO (social action/tikkun olam). Furthermore, USY owns Abraham Honor Heschel Honor Society. The requirement of acceptance to the public of honor is to undertake a single act of community service a month. At NFTY, the Reform youth movement, the position responsible for social action at the regional chapter and council was called the vice president of social action (SAVP).
In addition, other youth organizations have also evolved to include tikkun olam which is part of the foundation. BBYO has community service/social action commitments in both divisions, AZA and BBG. BBG includes two distinct programming areas specific to tikkun olam - one for community services, and one for social action. AZA includes a community service area/joint action social action. In addition, the two divisions cover the "principles of the pledge", the principles for guiding them. For girls of BBG, "the principles of help menorah" includes citizenship, philanthropy, and community service. For members of the AZA, "7 ​​â € <â €
Jewish Fundamentalism
Professor Elon University, Geoffrey Claussen, asserted that the concept of tikkun olam has helped inspire fundamentalist Jews like Meir Kahane and Yitzchak Ginsburgh. According to Claussen, "while the apparition of tikkun olam may reflect humility, attention and justice, they are often characterized by arrogance, over-zeal, and injustice."
See also
- Eschatology
References
Further reading
- Sarah Breger (May-June 2010). "How Tikkun Olam Got the Plot". Moment Ã,
- Sanford L. Drob (2001). "Tikkun ha-Olam: The Restoration of the World." The New Kabbalah
- Jill Jacobs (June 2007). "History" Tikkun Olam "". Zeek: A Jew Journal of Thought and Culture
- Tikkun Olam: Judaism, Humanism & amp; Transcendence , ed. David Birnbaum and Martin S. Cohen (New York: New Paradigm Matrix Publishing, 2015).
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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