The Gentile world is closely familiar with hundreds of words and phrases of Jewish origin, both in Hebrew and in Yiddish. Yet one of the essential staples of the Jewish lexicon remains virtually unknown outside the Jewish community, and that is Tikkun Olam.
Unless one is prepared to dig deep and deeper yet, the concept of Tikkun Olam is too elusive, and very often deceptively so, to provide even a slight glimpse into the colossal significance of this concept for the Jewish national psyche. Ironically, its best clue may be found on the most superficial level in this, virtually generic personal ad frequently placed in American newspapers and magazines: “Middle-aged Jewish male searching for a woman committed to tikkun olam.” What does it mean? Not to keep my reader in needless suspense, a commitment to tikkun olam basically means the Jewish person’s commitment to his or her Jewishness, or, in a more specific elucidation, to res Judaica.
Judging by the innumerable references to tikkun olam in Jewish talk, and by the sizeable number of Jewish organizations and publications all titled after it, tikkun olam indisputably stands out as the central concept of modern Judaism as a whole, one which any self-identifying Jew would be able to recognize automatically, and would treat with utmost veneration.
The legend of Tikkun Olam is almost five hundred years old, but as we start looking around, modern liberal Jewish explications of tikkun are misleading, to the point of being ridiculous. Here is just one such example, from a modern-day Jewish pamphlet designed to educate young people in the joys of “experiencing Judaism.” The phrase Tikkun Olam is here heretically translated as perfecting the world, which is not only a mistranslation, but is also contrary to the traditional Jewish warning against the danger of the words “be perfect!” allegedly whispered into the person’s ear by Yetzer Ha-Ra, that is, roughly speaking, by the Devil.
Attention! The following is a very common soft and inaccurate treatment of Tikkun Olam, something like the very first stage of a lengthy process of initiation into this concept for the young uninitiated Jews:
“Tikkun Olam: Perfecting the World.
“Isaac Luria, the renowned sixteenth century Kabbalist, used the phrase tikkun olam, usually translated as repairing the world, to encapsulate the true role of humanity in the ongoing evolution and spiritualization of the cosmos. Luria taught that God created the world by forming vessels of light to hold the divine light. But as God poured the light into the vessels, they catastrophically shattered, tumbling down toward the realm of matter. Thus, our world consists of countless shards of the original vessels entrapping sparks of the divine light. Humanity’s great task involves helping God by freeing and reuniting the scattered light, raising the sparks back to Divinity and restoring the broken world.
“Tikkun olam encompasses both the outer and the inner, both service to society by helping those in need, and service to the Divine by liberating the spark within. As we are, the Divine spark lies hidden beneath our layers of egoistic self-centeredness. That spark is our conscience, through which the promptings of the Divine Will flow toward us. By pursuing spiritual inner work to strengthen our soul and purify our heart, we grow more able to bear that spark without shattering, more willing to act on what we know to be right, less willing to act in harmful or grasping ways, and more able to notice the quiet presence of conscience beneath the din of our chattering minds, and reactive emotions. The work of transformation, of building a soul, creates a proper vessel for the Divine spark, for our unique share of the Divine Will, returning that spark to the service of the One Who sent it. By working to perfect ourselves, perfect our soul, and serve society, we each contribute in our own unique way to the perfecting of the world. This is our duty and our calling as human beings.” (Quoted from Innerfrontier.org.)
The most ridiculous part here is that tikkun olam is not at all about all “humanity,” but only about the part of it which traces itself to the Biblical miracle at Mount Sinai, and the only “human beings” involved here are the Jews and those sincere converts to Judaism, whose pre-born souls, too, were standing before HaShem in that awesome encounter. So here now is a more accurate retelling of Isaac Luria’s (1534-1572) mystical tale of Tikkun Olam. (In order to be as authentic as possible, while avoiding Luria’s highly esoteric presentation, which would have to suffer the English translation anyway, the following is carefully recapitulated from the account of Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun):
“The God of Infinity, Ein Sof, withdraws into Himself (tzimtzum), in order to make room for the Creation, which occurs by a beam of light from the Infinite into the newly provided space. Later, the divine light is enclosed in finite vessels, most of which break under the strain, and this shevirat ha-kelim (the breaking of the vessels) catastrophe as it occurs paves the way, so to speak, for disharmony and evil to enter the world. Hence comes the struggle to free the world from evil, and to accomplish the redemption of both the cosmos and history. This occurs in the stage of tikkun, in which the divine realm itself is reconstructed, the divine sparks are returned to their source, and Adam Kadmon, the symbolic primordial man, who is the highest configuration of the divine light, is rebuilt. (Observe that rebuilt is the “primordial man,” that is man before the world was divided into Jews and non-Jews! The importance of this will soon become clear.)
“Man plays an important role in this process through various kawwanot used during the prayer and through mystical intentions, involving secret combinations of words, all of which is directed toward the restoration of the primordial harmony and the reunification of the divine name.
“The essential elements of this myth are as follows: the withdrawal (tzimtzum), executed by the divine light, which originally filled all things, in order to make room for the extradivine; the sinking, as a result of the catastrophic event that occurred during this process, of luminous particles (qelippot, shells, a term already used in Kabbalah to designate the evil powers) into matter; whence the necessity of saving these particles, by means of tikkun, repair.
“This must be the work of a Jew, who not only lives in complete conformity to the religious duties, imposed on him by tradition, but also dedicates himself, in a framework of strict asceticism, to a contemplative life, founded on mystical prayer and the directed meditation (kawwana) of the liturgy which is meant to further the harmony (yihud, unification) of the innumerable attributes within the divine life. (So, here is the central idea of Tikkun Olam, which leads me to name it as the ultimate expression of the Jewish Manifest Destiny. Only the Jews can rebuild the generic man Adam Kadmon, and thus restore the world to harmony with God and His Divine Law!)
“The successive reincarnations of the soul, a constant theme of the kabbalah that Lurianism developed and made more complex, are also invested with an important function in the work of tikkun.
“In short, Lurianism proclaims the absolute requirement of an intense mystical life with as its negative side an unceasing struggle against the powers of evil. Thus it presents a myth that symbolizes the origin of the world, its fall, and its redemption. It gives meaning to the existence and to the hopes of the Jew, not merely exhorting him to a patient surrender to God, but moving him to a redeeming activism, which becomes the measure of his sanctity.
“Obviously such requirements make the ideal of Lurianism possible only for a small elite. Ultimately, it is realizable only through the exceptional personage of the just Tzaddik, the ideal holy Jew described above.”
…Luria’s esoteric tale has needed a popular adaptation and interpretation over the centuries, and so, here is how it is in fact interpreted by most historically- and culturally-conscious Jews, remarkably, both religious and non-religious:
The catastrophic shevirat ha-kelim, the breaking of the vessels, has caused the divine light to lose its unity, as it scattered around the world in countless fragments, qelippot. It was for the purpose of collecting them all and putting them back together, to restore the oneness of divine light, that HaShem scattered his chosen people around the world. Only the Jews are capable of the tikkun olam mission. Only the Jews can repair the broken world!
Here is a striking example of how the political nationalist aspirations of a persecuted minority have sought-- and found-- their rationale in religious interpretation, and,--- in the absence of a cultural-religious continuity, as a result of the collapse of Torah Judaism in the wake of the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple,--- found a substitute for religion in political activism of the highest intensity.
Meantime, the essence of tikkun olam as the Jewish nation-idea must now become clear. This nation-idea, like so many other things in real life, is both a blessing and a curse. As a clear Jewish calling to be helpful in the betterment of the world at large, it is a blessing. However, when interpreted as the exclusively Jewish mission to transform the world, it contains certain controversial aspects, and may result in a series of unintended and little-expected negative consequences, both for the Jews themselves, and for the whole world.
Unless one is prepared to dig deep and deeper yet, the concept of Tikkun Olam is too elusive, and very often deceptively so, to provide even a slight glimpse into the colossal significance of this concept for the Jewish national psyche. Ironically, its best clue may be found on the most superficial level in this, virtually generic personal ad frequently placed in American newspapers and magazines: “Middle-aged Jewish male searching for a woman committed to tikkun olam.” What does it mean? Not to keep my reader in needless suspense, a commitment to tikkun olam basically means the Jewish person’s commitment to his or her Jewishness, or, in a more specific elucidation, to res Judaica.
Judging by the innumerable references to tikkun olam in Jewish talk, and by the sizeable number of Jewish organizations and publications all titled after it, tikkun olam indisputably stands out as the central concept of modern Judaism as a whole, one which any self-identifying Jew would be able to recognize automatically, and would treat with utmost veneration.
The legend of Tikkun Olam is almost five hundred years old, but as we start looking around, modern liberal Jewish explications of tikkun are misleading, to the point of being ridiculous. Here is just one such example, from a modern-day Jewish pamphlet designed to educate young people in the joys of “experiencing Judaism.” The phrase Tikkun Olam is here heretically translated as perfecting the world, which is not only a mistranslation, but is also contrary to the traditional Jewish warning against the danger of the words “be perfect!” allegedly whispered into the person’s ear by Yetzer Ha-Ra, that is, roughly speaking, by the Devil.
Attention! The following is a very common soft and inaccurate treatment of Tikkun Olam, something like the very first stage of a lengthy process of initiation into this concept for the young uninitiated Jews:
“Tikkun Olam: Perfecting the World.
“Isaac Luria, the renowned sixteenth century Kabbalist, used the phrase tikkun olam, usually translated as repairing the world, to encapsulate the true role of humanity in the ongoing evolution and spiritualization of the cosmos. Luria taught that God created the world by forming vessels of light to hold the divine light. But as God poured the light into the vessels, they catastrophically shattered, tumbling down toward the realm of matter. Thus, our world consists of countless shards of the original vessels entrapping sparks of the divine light. Humanity’s great task involves helping God by freeing and reuniting the scattered light, raising the sparks back to Divinity and restoring the broken world.
“Tikkun olam encompasses both the outer and the inner, both service to society by helping those in need, and service to the Divine by liberating the spark within. As we are, the Divine spark lies hidden beneath our layers of egoistic self-centeredness. That spark is our conscience, through which the promptings of the Divine Will flow toward us. By pursuing spiritual inner work to strengthen our soul and purify our heart, we grow more able to bear that spark without shattering, more willing to act on what we know to be right, less willing to act in harmful or grasping ways, and more able to notice the quiet presence of conscience beneath the din of our chattering minds, and reactive emotions. The work of transformation, of building a soul, creates a proper vessel for the Divine spark, for our unique share of the Divine Will, returning that spark to the service of the One Who sent it. By working to perfect ourselves, perfect our soul, and serve society, we each contribute in our own unique way to the perfecting of the world. This is our duty and our calling as human beings.” (Quoted from Innerfrontier.org.)
The most ridiculous part here is that tikkun olam is not at all about all “humanity,” but only about the part of it which traces itself to the Biblical miracle at Mount Sinai, and the only “human beings” involved here are the Jews and those sincere converts to Judaism, whose pre-born souls, too, were standing before HaShem in that awesome encounter. So here now is a more accurate retelling of Isaac Luria’s (1534-1572) mystical tale of Tikkun Olam. (In order to be as authentic as possible, while avoiding Luria’s highly esoteric presentation, which would have to suffer the English translation anyway, the following is carefully recapitulated from the account of Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun):
“The God of Infinity, Ein Sof, withdraws into Himself (tzimtzum), in order to make room for the Creation, which occurs by a beam of light from the Infinite into the newly provided space. Later, the divine light is enclosed in finite vessels, most of which break under the strain, and this shevirat ha-kelim (the breaking of the vessels) catastrophe as it occurs paves the way, so to speak, for disharmony and evil to enter the world. Hence comes the struggle to free the world from evil, and to accomplish the redemption of both the cosmos and history. This occurs in the stage of tikkun, in which the divine realm itself is reconstructed, the divine sparks are returned to their source, and Adam Kadmon, the symbolic primordial man, who is the highest configuration of the divine light, is rebuilt. (Observe that rebuilt is the “primordial man,” that is man before the world was divided into Jews and non-Jews! The importance of this will soon become clear.)
“Man plays an important role in this process through various kawwanot used during the prayer and through mystical intentions, involving secret combinations of words, all of which is directed toward the restoration of the primordial harmony and the reunification of the divine name.
“The essential elements of this myth are as follows: the withdrawal (tzimtzum), executed by the divine light, which originally filled all things, in order to make room for the extradivine; the sinking, as a result of the catastrophic event that occurred during this process, of luminous particles (qelippot, shells, a term already used in Kabbalah to designate the evil powers) into matter; whence the necessity of saving these particles, by means of tikkun, repair.
“This must be the work of a Jew, who not only lives in complete conformity to the religious duties, imposed on him by tradition, but also dedicates himself, in a framework of strict asceticism, to a contemplative life, founded on mystical prayer and the directed meditation (kawwana) of the liturgy which is meant to further the harmony (yihud, unification) of the innumerable attributes within the divine life. (So, here is the central idea of Tikkun Olam, which leads me to name it as the ultimate expression of the Jewish Manifest Destiny. Only the Jews can rebuild the generic man Adam Kadmon, and thus restore the world to harmony with God and His Divine Law!)
“The successive reincarnations of the soul, a constant theme of the kabbalah that Lurianism developed and made more complex, are also invested with an important function in the work of tikkun.
“In short, Lurianism proclaims the absolute requirement of an intense mystical life with as its negative side an unceasing struggle against the powers of evil. Thus it presents a myth that symbolizes the origin of the world, its fall, and its redemption. It gives meaning to the existence and to the hopes of the Jew, not merely exhorting him to a patient surrender to God, but moving him to a redeeming activism, which becomes the measure of his sanctity.
“Obviously such requirements make the ideal of Lurianism possible only for a small elite. Ultimately, it is realizable only through the exceptional personage of the just Tzaddik, the ideal holy Jew described above.”
…Luria’s esoteric tale has needed a popular adaptation and interpretation over the centuries, and so, here is how it is in fact interpreted by most historically- and culturally-conscious Jews, remarkably, both religious and non-religious:
The catastrophic shevirat ha-kelim, the breaking of the vessels, has caused the divine light to lose its unity, as it scattered around the world in countless fragments, qelippot. It was for the purpose of collecting them all and putting them back together, to restore the oneness of divine light, that HaShem scattered his chosen people around the world. Only the Jews are capable of the tikkun olam mission. Only the Jews can repair the broken world!
Here is a striking example of how the political nationalist aspirations of a persecuted minority have sought-- and found-- their rationale in religious interpretation, and,--- in the absence of a cultural-religious continuity, as a result of the collapse of Torah Judaism in the wake of the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple,--- found a substitute for religion in political activism of the highest intensity.
Meantime, the essence of tikkun olam as the Jewish nation-idea must now become clear. This nation-idea, like so many other things in real life, is both a blessing and a curse. As a clear Jewish calling to be helpful in the betterment of the world at large, it is a blessing. However, when interpreted as the exclusively Jewish mission to transform the world, it contains certain controversial aspects, and may result in a series of unintended and little-expected negative consequences, both for the Jews themselves, and for the whole world.
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