The Chutzpah Chronicles

← Glossary

tikkun olam

Hebrew

repairing the world, social responsibility

Literally "repairing the world," a concept with roots in Lurianic kabbalah about restoring what's broken in creation. In liberal American Jewish life it's expanded to cover almost any social justice cause a synagogue wants to organize around, food drives, climate policy, voter registration, whatever the committee is doing this year. It's a catch-all now for "we do good things" more than a specific idea.