For the Sake of Tikkun Olam…
Friday November 12, 2021 – ח׳ כִּסְלֵו תשפ״ב – Parashat Vayetze
Have you heard the one about the 16-year-old high school student who shows up in Israel on a NFTY teen tour and asks her madricha:
“Umm, so how do you say Tikkun Olam in Hebrew?”
We all chuckle. And then we shift in our seats uncomfortably because underneath the joke there’s a sad subtext with a double zing. First, she didn’t realize Tikkun Olam (תיקון עולם) is Hebrew and has been an essential part of Jewish life for centuries. Then, it insinuates that North American Jews access Judaism only through the lens of “Tikkun Olam” (i.e. social justice consistent with a progressive agenda).
Today, tikkun olam means “repairing the world.” Our modern conception of Tikkun Olam has its origins in a new reading of the phrase from the Aleinu – לְתַקֵּן עולָם בְּמַלְכוּת שַׁדַּי, (“l’taken olam b’malchut shaddai”) indicating that the goal of Jewish existence is “to establish/fix/ perfect the world under the dominion of God” and is based on Talmudic and Kabbalistic/Lurianic mystical interpretations that affirm that every action/mitzvah is a step towards restoring the shattered “vessel” when the world was created.[1]
Tikkun Olam includes the ethical mitzvot of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, making peace where there is strife, pursuing justice, and working to end the oppression of one human being over another as written in the prophecy of Isaiah, that our commitment must be
“…to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe them,
And not to ignore your own kin.” (Isaiah 58:7)
In this week’s Parashat VaYetze, Jacob conditions his relationship on God’s fulfilling his basic needs:
“Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, if God protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father’s house—Adonai shall be my God”
Based on the principle of faith that human beings are created in God’s image, it is our duty to feed the hungry and clothe the naked thereby emulating God.
Israel’s Declaration of Independence provides its own understanding of the Jewish State’s commitment to Tikkun Olam, that it will:
“…foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; [the State] will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions;”
Is there a problem?
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg says yes and points out that:
“…it will come as no surprise that American Jewish politics have reflected Jewish sociology more than theology. Liberal rabbis have long emphasized prophetic ethical monotheism, while liberal congregations have often drawn upon Jewish ethics for a broader version of Tikkun Olam — not simply repair of the Jewish community but of the whole world. By contrast, more traditional (typically Orthodox) Jews have moved in an altogether different direction, emphasizing the importance of Jewish particularism in a way that often swims against the currents of mainstream culture.
As one joke common in Orthodox circles has it: ‘There are two kinds of Jews, those who favor Tikkun Olam and those who understand Hebrew.’”
Why is there criticism by many against “Tikkun Olam Judaism.” Because, Tikkun Olam Jews often cloak their liberal and progressive values as Judaism in its entirety, thus abandoning a commitment to our own community in service of a universal ideal. That is troubling and contrary to the essence of our tradition.
Judaism is complex. We are called upon by tradition to balance our particularistic and universal humanitarian impulses, requirements, and needs. Too often we cherry-pick verses using them as bullseyes to which we deliberately affix our arrows.
One prominent example of such cherry-picking is quoting the verse: “Justice, Justice shall you pursue…” (Deuteronomy 16:20) without mentioning the rest of the verse “…that you may thrive and inherit the land that Adonai your God is giving you.” Too often the value of Justice is disassociated from the value of inheriting the Land of Israel.
I often find myself as a lone liberal Reform voice in Zionist circles bearing the brunt of Orthodox/Traditional criticism of liberal Jews for not adhering strictly (or at all) to the laws of Kashrut, Shabbat, and lack of endogamy.
The Torah, of course, includes many universal ethical commandments such as welcoming the stranger and how to treat the “other” as it does the particularistic laws of Kashrut and Shabbat. No need for Talmudic and Halakhic arguments to understand that there should be one law for citizens and strangers alike and that our experience as slaves in Egypt (and as victims of genocide) should lead us to champion justice, compassion, equality, and fight oppression of all kinds, as well as to advocate on behalf of our stewardship of the earth. Why do some traditional Jews go to incredible lengths to maintain strict observance of Kashrut and Shabbat, but don’t apply an equivalent degree of stringency to justice and treatment of the “Other?” In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox will go to war over public observance of Shabbat and laws of modesty but seem to care less about how other humans-created-in-the-image-of-God are treated next door.
Since justice is such a predominant theme in the Torah, should we not expect more Orthodox Jews to march in the streets for justice?
Why the silence from the traditional community in proclaiming that Black, Brown, Asian, and Palestinian Lives Matter?
Let’s not be naive. Obviously, balance is necessary to live fully as a Jew, to live the values of the Torah and our tradition. In the interest of living a fuller Jewish life, we Reform Jews cannot allow our universal humanitarian concerns to become an excuse for our ignorance of the particulars of our tradition. The Orthodox do NOT have a monopoly on how to understand and live according to Torah values. It is ours as well, and we have an obligation to learn it, question it, and then live by it according to our own liberal understanding.
The State of Israel is a primary vehicle through which we, as a people, can fulfill our mission to restore the broken shards to the whole vessel. It’s time we show the world that we Reform Jews believe that this is the mission of the Jewish people, in Israel and around the world.
This week we lost a giant of our people and one of my personal heroes. Stuart Schoffmanז״ל, was a writer, journalist, translator, teacher, and an ish ruach. I spent years Reading his columns and essays throughout high school and college and then picking his brain as a young staffer at the Jerusalem Report magazine (which he helped to establish), and fellow congregant at Jerusalem’s Kehilat Kol HaNeshama.
I was once walking down the street in Jerusalem and bumped into Stuart. It was during those years of the early 2000s as the Second Intifada raged. I was agitated by many human rights organizations’ harsh criticism of Israel at a time when we were under attack after a long process of attempting to make peace with our neighbors.
I asked Stuart what he thought. He looked at me plainly and said “you know, you’re not wrong that their criticism may be insensitive to the moment that we’re in (both of us glancing in the direction of a bus stop that recently had been blown up). But, at the end of the day,
“But,” he said, “I worry more about those organizations, rabbis, and Jewish activists who are NOT concerned with human rights. We’ll get through this really awful time, but when it’s over we will still need to look at ourselves in the mirror.”
I had many subsequent conversations with Stuart about literature (he translated the best of Israel’s authors), culture, identity, and Zionism – often walking back down Emek Refaim street after synagogue on a Friday night. Having come from the Orthodox world, Stuart understood the tension between the ritual and ethical mitzvot that we Jews are expected to fulfill, and he was firmly rooted in both. Stuart passed away this week after decades fighting cancer. His articles, films, essays, and books will live on. If I must take one thing from his legacy, it is this:
“Be wary of those who don’t care about human rights.”
All the rest is commentary.
Shabbat Shalom,
Josh
[1] Jewish folklorist, mythologist, and author Howard Schwartz summarizes the myth:
At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring the world into being, to make room for creation, He contracted Himself by drawing in His breath, forming a dark mass. Then God said, Let there be light (Gen. 1:3) and ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light.
God sent forth the ten vessels like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. But the vessels—too fragile to contain such powerful Divine light—broke open, scattering the holy sparks everywhere.
Had these vessels arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. Instead, God created people to seek out and gather the hidden sparks, wherever we can find them. Once this task is completed, the broken vessels will be restored and the world will be repaired.