The concept of tikkun olam or repairing the world through social action, is one of the traditional categories of tzedakah (righteousness and justice). The word "tikkun" first appears in the book of Ecclesiastes (1:5; 7:13; 12:9), where it means "setting straight" or "setting in order." The most notable early rabbinic source for the phrase tikkun olam is the Aleinu prayer, where the phrase expresses the hope of repairing the world through the establishment of the kingdom of God.
The obligation to repair the world emerges from various Jewish sources. Some, including many of the ancient prophets, see the obligation as originating primarily from the commandment to emulate God's holiness, for, in their view, God is the model for human righteousness.1 Others see the obligation to engage in social action as arising chiefly from the Jews' historical position as an oppressed people.2 Still others believe that engaging in acts of tikkun olam is the primary means of satisfying the need to create a sense of Jewish community and identity. From this perspective the commitment to tikkun olam is a calling, a vocation, and it is unlikely that the Jews could survive, and it would be unseemly if they did, except as a community organized around values and committed to tikkun olam.3 However its wellsprings are conceived, tikkun olam is central to Judaism, and to our Adat Shalom community.
The freedom that we enjoy in America provides us with an opportunity to carry out Judaism's ethical obligations. As Americans, we have the freedom to pursue courses of action of our own choosing. As Jews, this enables us to fulfill our commitment to improving our community. Acts of tikkun olam provide us with channels through which we can apply our Jewish response to contemporary issues. Adat Shalom can and should provide a link between the ethical mandate of the Jewish tradition and the desire of members of the congregation to address themselves to some of the major issues facing our society.
According to the Statement of Principles of Adat Shalom, the mitzvah of tikkun olam, "obliges us to help alleviate hunger, homelessness, disease, ignorance, abuse, and political oppression among all people. In addition, we have a responsibility to preserve the health of the global ecosystem upon which all life depends."
A Jewish community like ours is continually challenged to strike a balance between exclusively Jewish concerns and concerns of a more global nature. Should the balance in Adat Shalom's institutional activity reflect the balance manifest in the lives of its members, or, because Adat Shalom is a particular community, should its activities be more Jewish in nature?
This very tension plays itself out in the Jewish tradition. Many rabbinic authorities of past generations viewed non-Jewish society with suspicion, if not with contempt. This yielded a fairly parochial view of the world, in which there was little obligation on the part of Jews to come to the aid of non-Jews. By contrast, other rabbis insisted that the religious obligations of compassion applied equally to Jews and non-Jews. This tension is reflected in the different interpretations given to the meaning of "neighbor' in the verse "You shall love thy neighbor as yourself." (Lev. 19:18)
Jews today are fully integrated into American society. We at Adat Shalom are drawn to the more universal teachings of the Jewish tradition requiring care and concern for any suffering people. At the same time, no Jewish institution need be apologetic about giving priority to the needs of Jews, both at home and abroad. In this spirit, Adat Shalom seeks to maintain a balance between its particular concerns to be active on behalf of the Jewish people and its universal commitments to help bring about world repair.
Adat Shalom promotes tikkun olam by encouraging and facilitating individual participation in a variety of activities. Our Social Action Committee is primarily responsible for this process. This committee identifies areas of interest and develops programs to provide a framework for membership action. Frequently this involves interaction with other organizations that share our interests. Individual members are encouraged to present to the Social Action Committee any ideas they might have concerning new issues or projects they believe merit congregational involvement. The Social Action Committee schedules several programs throughout the year where such issues may be addressed. The congregational newsletter or other special publications should be used as a way to give wider dissemination to social action projects or to the expression of opinion about particular issues.
At Adat Shalom, particular emphasis is placed on individual volunteer activity. Accordingly, donations of time, labor and financial support are the primary forms of personal involvement. As citizens in our free society, we may engage in additional means of self-expression such as individual membership in other organizations and political activity. However, the congregation currently does not intend to pursue its obligation to tikkun olam through collective political action, except, perhaps, in extraordinary circumstances involving clear violations of our fundamental principles of justice and equality. Such cases will, by definition, be rare, and action in the name of the congregation shall not be taken without Board and congregation-wide approval
Social issues and the preferred ways of implementing action may change with time, particularly as our congregation matures. Accordingly, we believe that it is important to revisit periodically the questions associated with tikkun olam on a congregation-wide basis. We encourage each member to explore the ways in which a commitment to repairing the world expresses his/her identity as a Jew and as a member of the world community.
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1. "Ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2)
2. "You shall not oppress a stranger for you know the heart of a stranger as you were slaves in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 23:9). See also Nathan Glazer, Jews and American Liberalism.
3. Leonard Fein, Where are We? The Inner Life of America's Jews (New York: Harper & Row, 1988), pp. 205, 207.
These guidelines, were approved by the Adat Shalom board on 2/19/95 and ratified by the Congregation on 5/21/95. Members of the congregation had opportunities for input to this statement throughout the process of development.