why is judaism better about keeping out the losers?

[MatthewColorado]

 On the contrast the one class with a non Reform Rabbi was full of respect and admiration for the Torah, and really solid concepts like one God, mitzvot, tikkun olam. 

Just a question you may be able to answer.  I understand one G-d and the mitzvot are solid concepts within Judaism. However, how and when did tikkun olam become a solid concept in the Torah? If that is what you mean?  

Outside the Aleynu prayer, the line "to perfect the world under the Kingdom of G-d," there is no mention of tikkun olam in the Tanach.

That is a great question. The idea and concept of tikkun olam for me is just inherently in the Torah. The only reason we would have any relationship with something holy and divine in this existence would be to become more like that holiness and we know that the whole of the law can be contained in loving your neighbor as yourself. The whole reason to study Torah is to become closer to the Creator and identify more with those qualities. This can of course only be accomplished by being an active participant in making the world a better place, no amount of meditating in a cave will match up against good deeds. 

Take Isaiah for example the whole picture of world peace, nation will not fight against nation anymore, the world will be of a pure speech, the knowledge of God will cover the earth like the water covers the oceans. This is all to me talking about tikkun olam in one form. We will not get to this point just by sitting around but by all of us working toward this common goal of correcting ourselves and correcting the world. As we do mitzvot it cultivates that tikkun in us which at first is just personal and internal, but eventually this is not enough and instead of personal tikkun you desire and thirst for tikkun olam. Maybe this is a really Kabbalistic view but it seems built into Torah in my perception.

[Jason]

I don't think that תִּקּוּן עוֹלָם tiqqûn ʿôlām is a foreign concept, since it's clear that every moral system aims at making the world a better place.

The truly foreign concept is that of שְׁבִירַת הַכֵּלִים šəḇîraṯ hakkēlîm or the whole idea of emanation and the effusion of light from God's own being, etc. In other words, while tikkun is simply a natural response to a broken world, the precursors for that tikkun are what transports this concept into something metaphysical that you either accept or don't.

The idea is that the first creative act was God drawing himself in in order to create space within which to fashion the creation. This self-contraction is called צִמְצוּם ṣimṣûm in Hebrew. After that, the vessels (the worlds themselves) were created to contain the light that was to come forth from God, and the pathways through which the light would travel. Once the light came forth ("let there be light"), it was so powerful that it broke the vessels that were intended to contain it. The slivers of those vessels are what unclean spirits came from. They are called קְלִפּוֹת qəlippôṯ, and the sparks of light that remain from the original light are called נְצִיצוֹת nəṣîṣôṯ. The goal of tikkun olam is to repair the vessels so that they can contain the light that they were intended to possess.

As I said, you either believe that or you don't (and the system of thought gets more complicated than that, of course), but the tikkun itself fits in with the idea of making the world a better place.

[Alan_Boskov]

Recent Aliyah news:

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.pre...1.10661303

...Although Jews in Russia are in less physical danger than those in Ukraine, many are deeply concerned about the disintegration of democracy in their country and the collapse of the economy due to international sanctions...

...Then-Interior Minister Arye Dery introduced new regulations in 2020, after it came to light that nearly half of those who immigrated to Israel after the passport law was introduced left soon afterward...

[Chavak]

just a correction since I hear this misquoted all the time. It is not "Being poor is a virtue: “the root of evil is money” it is correctly "the love of money is the root of all evil". Big difference.

[searchinmyroots]

just a correction since I hear this misquoted all the time.  It is not "Being poor is a virtue: “the root of evil is money”  it is correctly "the love of money is the root of all evil".  Big difference.

Thank you Chava!

Yes, it is misquoted quite often. Sometimes it's just easier for people to repeat things they've heard than to look it up for themselves!

[Alan_Boskov]

...It is not "Being poor is a virtue: “the root of evil is money”  it is correctly "the love of money is the root of all evil"...

This is the main difference between natural- and artificial poverty.