The Way Into Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) , livre ebook
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2013
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187
pages
English
Ebook
2013
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Publié par
Date de parution
24 janvier 2013
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9781580237123
Langue
English
An accessible introduction to the Jewish concept of our responsibility
to care for others and repair the world.
For everyone who wants to understand the meaning and significance of tikkun olam (repairing the world) in Jewish spiritual life, this book shows the way into an essential aspect of Judaism and allows you to interact directly with the sacred texts of the Jewish tradition.
Guided by Dr. Elliot N. Dorff, Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Judaism, this comprehensive introduction explores the roots of the beliefs and laws that are the basis of the Jewish commitment to improve the world. It looks at the various motivations that the sacred texts provide for caring for others, the ways the Jewish tradition seeks to foster such concerns in our social and family relationships, and the kind of society that Jews should strive to create as partners with God.
- What tikkun olam is. Ancient idea? New concept? The underlying theory has developed over time and branched into related terms and concepts that Judaism has used over thousands of years to describe the duties we now identify as acts of tikkun loam.
- Why we engage in acts of tikkun loam. Reasons include, but go far beyond, a general humanitarian feeling that we might have or the hope that if we help others, others will be there to help us.
- How we repair the world. The concrete expressions of tikkun olam in our families, our communities, the wider Jewish community, and the world at large help shape one of the most important aspects of the Jewish tradition.
By illuminating Judaism’s understanding of the components of an ideal world, and the importance of justice, compassion, education, piety, social and familial harmony and enrichment, and physical flourishing for both the individual and society, we see how this ancient quest for a world with all these elements helps us define Jewish identity and mission today.
About The Way Into Timeline Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Part One: Tikkun Olam in Theory 1. The Meaning and Significance of Tikkun Olam 2. Why Should I Care? 3. Religion and Ethics Part Two: Tikkun Olam for Individuals and Society 4. How We Talk to Each Other 5. Helping the Poor 6. Ransoming and Surrendering Captives 7. Accompanying and Supporting People inTimes of Need and Joy Part Three: Tikkun Olam within Families 8. Duties of Spouses to Each Other 9. Filial Duties 10. Parental Duties Forward: Envisioning an Ideal World, Shaped by Tikkun Olam Notes Glossary Suggestions for Further Reading Index
Publié par
Date de parution
24 janvier 2013
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9781580237123
Langue
English
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In honor of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, which has provided social services for Jews and non-Jews in the greater Los Angeles area since 1854.
I am currently honored to serve as its president, and I am thrilled to complete during my tenure a volume devoted to the Jewish roots of the many forms of tikkun olam that JFS does. That includes more than sixty programs of loving-kindness (gemilut chasadim) , through which JFS-LA fixes the world each day.
These are the deeds that yield immediate fruit and continue to yield fruit in time to come: honoring parents; doing deeds of loving-kindness; and making peace between one person and another. Study of Torah is basic to them all.
-Mishnah, Peah 1:1
Contents
About The Way Into
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One: Tikkun Olam in Theory
1. The Meaning and Significance of Tikkun Olam
2. Why Should I Care?
3. Religion and Ethics
Part Two: Tikkun Olam for Individuals and Society
4. How We Talk to Each Other
5. Helping the Poor
6. Ransoming and Surrendering Captives
7. Accompanying and Supporting People in Times of Need and Joy
Part Three: Tikkun Olam within Families
8. Duties of Spouses to Each Other
9. Filial Duties
10. Parental Duties
Forward: Envisioning an Ideal World, Shaped by Tikkun Olam
Notes
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index
About the Author
About The Way Into ... Series
Copyright
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Preface
Tikkun olam -to fix the world. Quite a task! Yet that is precisely the goal that the Jewish tradition sets for our lives. It gives us a mission, and thereby lends meaning to our lives. It also imposes a heavy burden on each and every one of us every day of our lives. We may certainly take time to enjoy ourselves now and then, and we not only may, but should, spend time with our families and at our place of employment. But beyond all these activities, and throughout our lives, we must dedicate at least part of our time, energy, and resources to improving the lot of others.
Jews understand this almost instinctively. Surveys show that even Jews who doubt the existence or significance of God, who are not involved much in Judaism s prayers, rituals, or holiday celebrations, who do not observe Judaism s restrictions on diet and work on holy days, and/or who do not know much about their heritage or devote any time as adults to studying it nevertheless feel in their bones that they have a duty as Jews to make this a better world, that this is the essence of what it means to be a Jew. As a religious Jew, I would say that it is sad that so many people, by their own description, are not very religious, for such people are missing out on a virtual treasure trove of meaning, joy, intellectual ferment, and communal connections that the Jewish tradition offers us. Still, such Jews are not wrong in identifying social action as a key component of what it means to be Jewish, for much of the tradition is devoted to it.
This book describes the roots in Jewish beliefs and laws of the Jewish commitment to improve the world. It explores the many reasons why Judaism would have us engage in such activities, reasons that include, but go far beyond, a general humanitarian feeling that we might have or the hope that if you help others, others will be there to help you when you need assistance. It also describes how the Jewish tradition would have us seek to fix the world, rooted ultimately in its vision of the ideal world, the goal for which we should strive.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 addresses the underlying theory of tikkun olam . Chapter 1 describes how the term has developed over time into the meaning it has today. This chapter also indicates other related terms and concepts that Judaism has used for thousands of years to describe the duties we now identify and name as acts of tikkun olam , and it cites sources to demonstrate the great significance that classical Judaism ascribes to such activities. Chapter 2 explores why any person, and why any Jew in particular, should care about the lot of someone else. Finally, chapter 3 delves into the complicated but critical issue of the relationship between religion and ethics, exploring what Judaism has to add to our general feeling that it is a nice thing to help someone in need.
Part 2 explores both the theory and the practice of Jewish tikkun olam in our social interactions. Thus, chapter 4 deals with language-how we should speak to others and what we should avoid saying. Chapter 5 deals with poverty, including reasons we should be wary of helping the poor, reasons we should nevertheless offer aid, the proper limits of such support, the duties of the poor, and the modes of assistance we should offer. Chapter 6 describes Jewish thought and law on redeeming captives, a problem the Jewish community has unfortunately had to confront from earliest times to our own. Chapter 7 addresses our duties to provide health care to the sick, including the emotional support we must provide the ill by visiting them. Just as the sick need communal support, so too do couples celebrating their weddings and families mourning the loss of a loved one, and so attending to the emotional needs of people in those situations also constitutes a form of tikkun olam .
Part 3 addresses tikkun olam within families. Thus, chapter 8 considers the duties of spouses to each other, chapter 9 describes Judaism s specification of filial duties, and chapter 10 delineates Judaism s understanding of parental duties. In each case, the chapter cites traditional sources, but it also takes into account the places where modern conditions are really very different from ancient or medieval ones and explores how that might affect our use of traditional materials in approaching a given issue in our day.
Finally, the last section, which would normally be called the conclusion, is instead called the forward, because it pushes us to envision the goals of our specific efforts of tikkun olam and hopefully also motivates us all the more to engage in such efforts. The forward describes Judaism s understanding of the components of an ideal world. Here Jewish sources articulate our highest hopes so that we can have a clear sense of what we should be striving for on a daily basis. I hope that this book helps people understand the elements of such a world and the specific directives that Judaism gives us to achieve it through what we do each and every day in many parts of our lives, so that we are all motivated and informed to do what we can to make the Jewish vision real.
A Note on the Translation
The Bible translation I have used in this book is almost entirely from the Jewish Publication Society translation of the Tanakh (1985). This translation uses what we today recognize as masculine God language. This is in contrast to the language that I have used in my text throughout the book, but I leave the masculine God language intact to preserve the authenticity of the citations.
Acknowledgments
There are many people I would like to thank for helping me make this book possible. It was Stuart M. Matlins, the publisher of Jewish Lights, who first suggested that I write such a book and convinced me to do it. It has been a true work of love and hopefully useful besides, and so I want to thank him for developing The Way Into series, an idea created by Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, for this book within it, and for asking me to contribute in this way. Alys R. Yablon applied her considerable editorial talents to my manuscript, making it better than the one I created, and I want to thank her sincerely for that. I teach at the University of Judaism, and Steven Edelman-Blank, a rabbinical student in the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies there, kindly offered to read the manuscript, suggest editorial changes, and make it conform to the formatting requirements for publication. I want to thank him for taking on this task so willingly and so skillfully. I would also like to thank all the good people at Jewish Lights for their help in publishing and marketing this book. Finally, I want to thank the love of my life, my wife, Marlynn, for her support in joining me in our many acts of tikkun olam and for her patience in allowing me to spend the time necessary to write about it. I also want to thank her and, indeed, God, for the incredible blessings of our children and grandchildren-Tammy and her son Zachary Ethan; Michael and Tanya, and their daughter Zoe Elliana; Havi and Adam, and their daughters Noa Yarden and Ayden Chaya; and Jonathan and Mara, and their son Amiel Shalom. As I mention in this book, and as my children have heard me say ad nauseam, children are one of the greatest blessings of life, an integral part of God s promise to Abraham long ago, and so I hope that many more grandchildren are on the way!
I have dedicated this book to Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles. JFS was founded in 1854, seven years before Los Angeles was incorporated as a city. Ever since then, it has engaged in a wide variety of acts of tikkun olam . With more than sixty programs, it now serves people through activities including, but not limited to, counselin
