10-18-2020, 01:10 AM
(10-16-2020, 02:19 PM)Dana Wrote:(10-14-2020, 03:03 PM)MatthewColorado Wrote: 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.