Download text: the jewish value of tikkun olam

TEXT: THE JEWISH VALUE OF TIKKUN OLAM
In this text, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, a Reform Jewish leader, speaks to the way in which the universal value of Tikkun
Olam is deeply embedded in Jewish particularist values.
Jews do not observe Torah in order to survive; they survive in order
to observe Torah. And … observing Torah means much more than
worrying only about our own souls.
Observing Torah involves fulfilling a grander purpose. It means
taking to heart the words of R. Hayyim of Brisk, the greatest
Talmudist of the late 19th century, who defined the rabbi’s task as
follows: “To redress the grievances of those who are abandoned and
alone, to protect the dignity of the poor, and to save the oppressed
from the hands of the oppressor.”
Social justice, in short, is required by our religious texts and is
inseparable from our religious mission. There is no such thing as a
morality that is selectively indignant — that looks within but fails
to look without. And Judaism without ethics, both personal and
societal, is a contradiction in terms.
I have found that the work of “tikkun olam,” for all its rewards, is
lonely and discouraging work, and only by absorbing the light of
the Shabbat candles and by studying and worshiping with a strong,
dynamic Jewish community can I immunize myself against the
cynicism and alienation that surround me.
- Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Judaism is always Tikkun Olam – and More, 2011
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TEXT: THE JEWISH VALUE OF TIKKUN OLAM
EXPLANATION OF TEXT:
Rabbi Eric Yoffie is one of the central leaders of Reform Judaism having headed the Union for Reform Judaism
from 1996 to 2012. This is an excerpt from an article that he wrote in 2011, in which he emphasised the idea
of Tikkun Olam – which in the context can be translated as social justice, or perhaps more accurately, social
action in order to bring justice within the whole world – Jewish and non-Jewish, as a key concept within
Judaism.
In the article he argued against the opinion that has often been voiced within certain Orthodox circles
that social action for justice towards non-Jews is extraneous to the Jewish tradition and has been dressed up as
Jewish by those Jews who get their main value framework from outside of the Jewish tradition.
From Yoffie’s point of view, the task of Judaism is to attend to the wounds of the world wherever they
are found – a universalist mission that is absolutely incumbent on Jews in the modern world, a world in which
they have the resources and the access to help address the needs of those who need help wherever they are
found. This for Yoffie is the meaning of Tikkun Olam.
In this, he firmly echoes the dominant line within Reform Judaism from the time of its inception in the
19th century. However, he makes the point that despite the universalist mission of Judaism as he understands
it, it is a mission that is generated by the Jewish tradition and culture and which can be best carried out by Jews
who work from within the Jewish community, working consciously as Jews with their community supporting
them and helping them fight for that mission.
The Jew can be strengthened by the Jewish tradition and way of life (“the light of the Shabbat candles”)
and by the mobilisation and support of the Jewish community who can help the individual from falling into
the cynicism and alienation that are so often the lot of the individual idealist trying to do something to create a
better world while surrounded by indifference and selfishness.
Yoffie is by no means the only modern Jewish thinker who has trodden this path. Rabbi Yitz
Greenberg, one of the important figures within the Modern Orthodox world in America, has stated that just
like values such as “family” and “education” that are accepted as central parts of the Jewish tradition identified
as such by Jew and non-Jew alike, “so should personal service [to society] become known as the indispensable
expression of Jewishness”.
British Chef Rabbi (Orthodox) Jonathan Sacks has made a related comment saying that “we are here
to make a difference, to mend the fractures of the world, a day at a time, an act at a time, for as long as it takes
to make it a place of justice and compassion where the lonely are not alone, the poor not without help; where
the cry of the vulnerable is heeded and those who are wronged are heard. ‘Someone else’s physical needs are my
spiritual obligation,’ a Jewish mystic taught.”
All of these modern Rabbinic leaders are essentially making the same point in this regard: Judaism is
not just about Jews working to help other Jews. It is at least partly about Jews working as Jews, from within
the Jewish tradition, to address the problems and the needs of the world as a world. The Jewish people are a
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TEXT: THE JEWISH VALUE OF TIKKUN OLAM
particular people with their own identity, tradition and culture but part of that tradition is about engaging with
the wider world in a universalistic agenda.
EDUCATIONAL SUGGESTIONS:
Here are two suggestions for using this piece:
Divide into small groups and ask the groups what are the central values of Judaism as they understand them?
Make a list of all of the suggestions. Is social justice or social action or Tikkun Olam anywhere on their list?
Should it be? Why? Why not?
Explain that social action and social justice certainly should go on the list but the question is “social
justice for whom?” Who should Jews be helping? Bring in the piece from Rabbi Yoffie. What would he say?
What are the advantages of a “helping the world” position? What are the disadvantages?
How important is helping others an important value in Judaism? Bring in several of the following seven
Biblical or Rabbinic quotes to suggest that it is very central.
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the
gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that
have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner…Do not hold back the wages of a hired
worker overnight. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind… (Vayikra
19: 9,10,13,14)
[God] does justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, providing him with
food and clothing. And you shall love the stranger as you were strangers in Egypt. (Devarim
10:18-19)
You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been
strangers in the land of Egypt. (Shemot 23:9)
He (Hillel) used to say: If I am not for myself who is for me? If I am only for myself what am I?
And if not now, when? (Mishna: Pirkei Avot 1:14)
Rav Assi said Tzedaka is equal to all the other mitzvoth combined. (T. Bab. Bava Batra 9a)
If a poor man comes and requests enough to cover what he lacks and the hand of the giver cannot
supply what he needs, he should give what he can. If he gives up to a fifth of his property, he has
performed the mitzvah in a splendid fashion. If he gives a tenth of his property, he has performed
the mitzvah adequately. Less than this brings on the evil eye…And even a poor person who makes
his living from Tzedaka must give Tzedaka to someone else. (Rambam: Mishneh Torah. Hilchot
Matanot leAniyim 7:5)
“We are here to make a difference, to mend the fractures of the world, a day at a time, an act at a
time, for as long as it takes to make it a place of justice and compassion where the lonely are not
alone, the poor not without help; where the cry of the vulnerable is heeded and those who are
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TEXT: THE JEWISH VALUE OF TIKKUN OLAM
wronged are heard. ‘Someone else’s physical needs are my spiritual obligation,’ a Jewish mystic
taught. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: To Heal a Fractured World: the Ethics of Responsibility)
Explain that these quotes are indeed representative of Judaism which has always placed a great deal of emphasis
on the issue of helping the weak and disenfranchised. How does the group feel about belonging to a culture or a
people which puts such emphasis on social justice?
Discuss whether in today’s world where social action to help the weak is almost universally accepted as a
positive value, there is any relevance to doing these things any more as a Jew? If so, why? If not, why not? Now
bring the piece from Rabbi Yoffie? What would he say to the question? What reasons would he bring? How
does the group react to this idea?
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