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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 www.jpeoplehood.org/toolkit 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 1 ~ www.jpeoplehood.org/toolkit 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 2 ~ www.jpeoplehood.org/toolkit 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? 3 ~ www.jpeoplehood.org/toolkit