Tikkun Olam — Repairing the World
Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) is the Jewish obligation to work toward the healing of all that is broken in creation — the most comprehensive expression of Jewish social ethics and cosmic responsibility.
Tikkun olam (repair/healing of the world) originated in the Lurianic Kabbalah of the 16th century as a cosmic metaphor: God's infinite light shattered the vessels of creation (shevirat hakeilim), scattering divine sparks (nitzotzot) throughout the world of matter and history. The task of human beings — specifically of the Jewish people through Torah observance and prayer — is to gather and elevate these scattered sparks, repairing the cosmic fracture. In contemporary usage, tikkun olam has been widened to encompass the entire domain of social justice, environmentalism, and ethical activism — the Jewish obligation to work toward the healing of political, social, ecological, and spiritual brokenness. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks synthesized both the Kabbalistic and social meanings: 'God created the world in such a way as to leave room for us to create the world together — that is the work of tikkun.'
The world was created for my sake — and it is my responsibility to repair it.
Political philosopher Michael Sandel's 'Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?' argues that a robust public ethics requires citizens to engage with questions of the common good beyond their private interests — the Jewish concept of tikkun olam provides precisely such a framework: repair of the world as a sacred obligation, not merely a personal virtue.
Mishnah
Written about in
- What Judaism says about justice
The world is treated as unfinished and damaged, and repairing it is assigned work rather than optional idealism. The phrase has been stretched in modern use; the library roots it in the Mishnah's claim that the world was created for each person's sake.