Our Responsibility is to Repair the World

May 11, 2023 the COVID pandemic was declared over, but newspaper reports about climate change, a war in the Ukraine, lying politicians, increase of hate groups, a world-wide hunger crisis, and students falling behind in reading and math underscore the importance of a world needing repair.

We can repair the world through Tikkun Olam. It’s a Jewish concept referring to actions people take to improve the world through social action and social justice.  Originally, Tikkun Olam referred to legal actions intended to preserve the social order, but today it includes repairing, mending, or healing the world. Jews are taught from a very young age that they are meant to repair the world through acts of kindness and love. 

The organization, Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) is a global movement of communities working towards repairing the world. They create and disseminate affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people living with disabilities, the elderly, and the poor. Some examples are customized prostheses, devices that help the blind, and a key holder for people who lack fine motor skills. Thus far, according to their website, TOM has served 70 communities and delivered 213,950 products to people living in Columbia, Australia, Japan, Israel, Canada, the USA, and more. Their goal is to aid 250 million people around the world. 

In most synagogues, when a child reaches 13, they participate in a service, a bar or bat-mitzvah, to be accepted as adults in their community. In 2021, Madeline, a child from Santa Clarita, California, decided to volunteer at the Gentle Barn Foundation, an organization that rescues abused and abandoned animals, for her Tikkun Olam project. This special girl wants to ensure more animals are treated with respect and dignity. 

Madeline’s idea is but one people motivated by Tikkun Olam can practice. There are so many themes you can latch upon for your personal Tikkun Olam project. In Isaiah 58:7 it is written, “Share your bread with the hungry; and take the wretched poor into your home. When you see the naked, clothe him, and do not ignore your own kin.” 

An April 27, 2023, report out of the University of Southern California finds one in four Los Angeles residents go hungry and that food insecurity remains undercounted nationally. You can help out with this problem at Meals on Wheels. In the LA area, the Valley Inter Community Council delivered more than 1.2 million meals to seniors during the pandemic and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank provided more than 1.6 billion meals. Volunteering your help to any of these organizations would be a wonderful mitzvah (kind act). 

Many new studies show that 33% of children in early elementary school are not reaching reading benchmarks on standardized tests. To help teachers repair these learning losses, volunteer your time in a classroom or library. If you have a child or grandchild attending a local elementary school, let the teacher know you’d like to assist. You could always volunteer your time at a public library and read stories to young children, all wonderful Tikkun Olam projects.

Are you looking for a more creative idea to repair the world? Dosomething.org is a non-profit for young people and social change. Over the past 30 years it has activated millions of young people throughout the United States and 189 countries to take action on causes that impact them and their communities. For example, in 2016 activists encouraged people to donate 1.2 million period products to shelters and to those in need. In 2015, to protect the planet, Dosomething volunteers cleaned up 4.7 million cigarette butts and since 2018 bolstered youth voter turnout with 415,222 registered voters. 

There’s so much you can do in your own neighborhood. For example, while walking my dog I was surprised by all the garbage left on the streets by thoughtless individuals. I bought a pooper scooper from Petco and while walking Scribble, I pick up trash with the scooper and place it in a bag. Once the sack is full, I throw it in a dumpster. 

You can do the same; or lend a helping hand to an elderly or disabled neighbor by mowing their lawn, washing their car, or walking their dog. If you work well with your hands, sew, or knit clothes for a children’s shelter. 

Ideas for Tikkun Olam projects are limited to your imagination. We can’t stop wars nor lying politicians, but we can make the world a better place through social action and social justice. Give Tikkun Olam a chance and start by making your neighborhood a better place to live. 

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