Wise’s Elul Challenge provides activities focused on four Holy Day themes: T’filah (Reflect), Tzedakah (Repair), Teshuvah (Repent), T’hadesh (Renew). The next four days of Kavanot will each address one of these themes.
Today: Tzedakah/Tikkun (Repair)
The two Hebrew words we associate most closely with “charity” are tzedakah and tikkun olam. Both concepts are so filled with meaning they warrant a bit of explanation to deepen our understanding of core Jewish values צדקה – tzedakah: More often than not, tzedakah is used interchangeably with the English word “charity.” However, that could not be farther from the true meaning. The closest English word for tzedakah is “justice.” The Torah speaks of a scale that is just, meaning one that provides the honest weight of whatever is being measured—a scale in balance. Tzedakah in its fullest sense implies some action that restores an imbalance that has come to exist in the world. Acts of tzedakah are not merely driven by compassion for the suffering of another, they are driven by an awareness of an injustice that must be corrected. Tzedakah describes those small acts that we take to provide food to the hungry, healing to the sick, safety to those in danger through direct action or charitable donations.
תיקון עולם – tikkun olam (often translated as “repair the world”): This term has equally profound significance. It first appears in our tradition in the third paragraph of the Aleinu prayer (recited towards the end of our service before the open ark). The words l’takein olam b’malchut Shaddai can be translated as “a world perfected under God’s dominion.” Tikkun olam describes a vision of a Divinely perfect world—one that, of course, will remain unattainable yet is resolutely imagined. As conceived and applied in the Reform Jewish tradition, tikkun olam describes acts with a wide scope that bring wholeness, repair, and justice to the world. Environmental causes, social well-being, racial equity, rights for the LGBTQ+ community all fall under the umbrella of tikkun olam.
When linked to the Holy Days, these phrases remind us of our responsibility first, to repair ourselves and then to extend our reach into the world and seek the welfare of our fellow humans.
— Rabbi Ron Stern