Tikkun olam

Tikkun olam (, or more classically tikkun ha'olam; Hebrew: תִּיקּוּן עוֹלָם, romanized: tiqqūn ʻōlām, lit. 'repairing the world'), is a religious concept in Judaism, which refers to various forms of action intended to repair and improve the world. In classical rabbinic literature, the phrase referred to legal enactments intended to preserve the social order. In the Aleinu, it refers to the eradication of idolatry. In midrash, it often refers to divine action to balance and sustain the world, especially in relationship to Nature. In Lurianic Kabbalah, the "repair" is mystical: to return the sparks of Divine light to their source, employing ritual performance. However, it is only much later in Kabbalah that this concept is applied to tikkun olam, rather than to the repair of a particular world or sefirah among the infinitely many worlds beyond the physical world. In the modern period, the Lurianic understanding of cosmic repair provided a mythos to inspire deep religious feelings about tikkun olam. In the modern era, particularly among the post-Haskalah movements, tikkun ha'olam has come to refer to the pursuit of social justice, or "the establishment of Godly qualities throughout the world", based on the idea that "Jews bear responsibility not only for their own moral, spiritual, and material welfare, but also for the welfare of society at large". This understanding of tikkun olam has deep roots in midrash, musar, and Jewish thought that connect tikkun ha'olam to building society, loving one's neighbors, and to religious humanism in general.