Tikkun Olam: Collecting Divine Sparks

One origin for the concept of Tikkun Olam can be found in the city of Tsfat, which is in the northern part of Israel. Located not very far from the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, Tsfat (or Safed) became haven for a number of Jewish mystics. Rabbi Isaac Luria, one of these Kabbalists who lived there during the sixteenth century, wondered why people suffered in our world and how God could allowed such terrible things as disease, hunger, and war to happen. He explains it through a story of creation a little different than that found in the beginning of Genesis.

In Luria’s rendering, the world started only with God, Who was all in time and in space. God’s divine light filled all there was. There was no room for creation, so God pulled back and made space where there was no God for all of creation, called in Hebrew tzimtzum. Once there was room for something other than God, the creation of the world as we know it occurred. All of God’s light needed a place to go, so special receptacles were prepared to hold the light of God. It was then that something horrible went wrong, and for some unknown reason, there was a cosmic explosion and the vessels shattered. The universe was filled with sparks of God’s light and the shattered pieces of the receptacles.

The world we live in today is filled with these sparks of God’s light, and it is according to Kabbalist teachings that it is the responsibility of each and every person to collect and gather God’s sparks of Divine light, thereby repairing and fixing the world – Tikkun Olam, literally the act of repairing the world. Jews are supposed to become fixers, partners in properly completing God’s creation.

Those of you with older children might have heard of the film, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” The plot of the film is not important for our purpose here, however there is one scene that serves us well. At one point, Norah says “There's this part of Judaism that I like. Tikkun Olam. It’s said that the world is broken into pieces and everyone has to find them and put them back together.” Nick thinks for a moment and replies, “Maybe we don't have to find it. Maybe we are the pieces.”

We are created betzelem elohim, in God’s image, and there is much that is said about partnering with God to complete creation and perfect the world. We are the divine sparks in the world, and by taking an active part in repairing the broken pieces, it goes beyond simply volunteering and feeling good about it; we are partners in a divine act.

For ideas of social action projects your family can do together, visit the Tikkun Olam section of the Family Life Education page on the Beth El website. Whether your family is passionate about animals, helping the elderly, caring for our environment, or working to end hunger, there is a list of projects you can do together to help make a difference in the world around us.