- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Apr 26, 2021 16:21:02 GMT -8
Tikkun olam תיקון עולם, overcoming idolatry and acting constructively and beneficially. The term dates back at least to the Mishnaic period (@ 10–220 CE). In medieval times, Kabbalah broadened the term to mean 'repair of the world.’ In contemporary use it is the idea Jews are responsible for not only their own moral, spiritual, and material welfare, but also for the welfare of society at large. The term encompasses a form of Jewish social justice, establishing Godly qualities throughout the world.
In Lurianic Kabbalah tikkun olam means repairing the world in which we live. However according to Dr Lawrence Fine, in his article “Tikkun: A Lurianic Motif in Contemporary Jewish Thought,” in Luria's teachings, complete tikkun would undo the world we know.” "Isaac Luria taught what amounts to a 16th-century version of a gnostic myth, organized around three main themes: tzimtzum [“contraction”], shevirat ha-kelim [“the shattering of the vessels”], and tikkun [“repair” or “fixing”].” I’ll try to simplify all this, but it gets really weird and complex so if this doesn’t make much sense, it’s because the whole (lengthy) explanation makes absolutely no sense either:
tzimtzum [“contraction”]- basically since God occupied all space, He had to contract His essence to make space for something else (what apparently even He did not understand) Beforehand divine powers in harmony. Mercy (Hesed) and Judgment (Din) were in unity. But the Ein Sof [God’s essence] gathered the “roots” of Stern Judgment in this region along with a reshimu, an impression of divine light; resulting in separation of Din and Hesed and establishment of some independence for the forces of Din. Tzimtzum was an act of purification wherein the “dross” within God was purged. {I swear, I am not making this stuff up, ed.} Then an illuminating ray from God’s hidden essence (Ein Sof) acts on the space and its’ mixture of reshimu and Din, linking Ein Sof and the space. This is somehow Adam Qadmon, the “Primordial Man,” described in Luriatic text in vivid anthropomorphic detail.
shevirat ha-qelim [“breaking of the vessels”]- lights from Adam Qadmon‘s orifices were a perfectly unified structure, except for the eyes which emanated differently. They were separated into different sefirot, requiring containment in special qelim. These vessels were of a “thicker” light making “shells” for the purer light. But some qelim were unable to contain their light, and shattered under the pressure, scattering themselves into the space. Some fragments of ligt attached to the broken shards and the powers of the qelipot (“husks” or “shells”), sitra ahrathe or evil forces of the “other side” were produced from these. The broken shards are the basis for the material world, The sparks of light remained trapped among the qelipot which are constantly nourished and strengthened by their holy sparks. If not for these sparks the qelipot would lose their life and power altogether.
tikkun [“repair” or “fixing”]- so how to mend this injury suffered by the Godhead. Tikkun is the processes for this restoration and repair. Adam’s soul was composed of all the levels of divine reality, and was intended to extricate and reintegrate the divine sparks remaining in the qelipot. The cosmic process of tikkun was almost already done. He was to finalize restoration through contemplative exercises. Through mysticism, Adam could have removed the sparks from their demonic shells, thus reestablishing primordial unity. The qelipot would have lost all their power and the original state of perpetual communion with the divine light restored. The end.
But Adam’s transgression interrupted his communion with the upper spheres, attaching him to the lower worlds. The tikkun which had already taken place was reversed, the worlds which had begun to rise and return to their proper position now fel; good and evil were again mixed. Humanity and lower world of Asiyah was materialized, and the sin of Adam caused the sparks of all human souls that had been contained within his own to fall and become imprisoned as well within the qelipot. Tikkun therefore entails two processes: First, the gathering of the divine lights that had fallen into the realm of the qelipot as a result of the “breaking of the vessels,” then the gathering of all the holy souls imprisoned in the qelipot. Tikkun is to be effected through our contemplation. Every religious act- liturgical prayer, performance of mitzvot, and practice of exercises such as yihudim [“unifications” of the Godhead] requires contemplative concentration on the various dimensions of divinity and the combinations of the divine name in order to “raise up the fallen sparks.” Reorganization and restructuring takes place in acts of devotional piety. This contemplative idea characterizes each activity, and [16th-17th cen. kabbalistic author of The Tree of Life] Hayyim Vital’s versions of Luria’s teachings lays out the mystical intentions (kavvanot) in excruciating detail.
Dr Fine in these observations summarizes Luriatic Kabbalah:
1. The condition of disarray in which the cosmos finds itself, according to Lurianic Kabbalah, is a result of two different catastrophic “falls,” one of an intra-divine nature, prior to and independent of human behavior, the other a consequence of human sin.
2. The material world as we know it, as with gnostic myths of late antiquity, is deemed repugnant, evil, inhospitable, opposed in every way to that which is immaterial, divine light and the soul.
3. The project of human life is to separate the holy from the material world, and thus divest that world of all existence. All existence will return to its original spiritual condition, a state synonymous with the messianic age. Lurianism is thus, like the gnostic myths of an earlier time, a complete rejection of the world as we know it, and of the historical process. The vision of redemption is a fundamentally spiritual one in which all things return to olam ha-tikkun [literally “the world of repair,” that is, a world restored to its perfect status before intra-divine catastrophe and human sin]. Thus, the tikkun of which Lurianic Kabbalah speaks is not that of this world, but of “worlds” beyond it.
4. The responsibility for bringing all this about is a human one, not a divine one. Divinity is, in effect, a passive beneficiary of the actions of human beings.
Based on all the above and the connotations Tikkun Olam has in Judaism, both kabbalistic and the mainstream idea of imposing Rabbinical Judaisms ideas of social justice on everyone, I think I will discontinue use of the term. Others may do as they wish.
Dan C
In Lurianic Kabbalah tikkun olam means repairing the world in which we live. However according to Dr Lawrence Fine, in his article “Tikkun: A Lurianic Motif in Contemporary Jewish Thought,” in Luria's teachings, complete tikkun would undo the world we know.” "Isaac Luria taught what amounts to a 16th-century version of a gnostic myth, organized around three main themes: tzimtzum [“contraction”], shevirat ha-kelim [“the shattering of the vessels”], and tikkun [“repair” or “fixing”].” I’ll try to simplify all this, but it gets really weird and complex so if this doesn’t make much sense, it’s because the whole (lengthy) explanation makes absolutely no sense either:
tzimtzum [“contraction”]- basically since God occupied all space, He had to contract His essence to make space for something else (what apparently even He did not understand) Beforehand divine powers in harmony. Mercy (Hesed) and Judgment (Din) were in unity. But the Ein Sof [God’s essence] gathered the “roots” of Stern Judgment in this region along with a reshimu, an impression of divine light; resulting in separation of Din and Hesed and establishment of some independence for the forces of Din. Tzimtzum was an act of purification wherein the “dross” within God was purged. {I swear, I am not making this stuff up, ed.} Then an illuminating ray from God’s hidden essence (Ein Sof) acts on the space and its’ mixture of reshimu and Din, linking Ein Sof and the space. This is somehow Adam Qadmon, the “Primordial Man,” described in Luriatic text in vivid anthropomorphic detail.
shevirat ha-qelim [“breaking of the vessels”]- lights from Adam Qadmon‘s orifices were a perfectly unified structure, except for the eyes which emanated differently. They were separated into different sefirot, requiring containment in special qelim. These vessels were of a “thicker” light making “shells” for the purer light. But some qelim were unable to contain their light, and shattered under the pressure, scattering themselves into the space. Some fragments of ligt attached to the broken shards and the powers of the qelipot (“husks” or “shells”), sitra ahrathe or evil forces of the “other side” were produced from these. The broken shards are the basis for the material world, The sparks of light remained trapped among the qelipot which are constantly nourished and strengthened by their holy sparks. If not for these sparks the qelipot would lose their life and power altogether.
tikkun [“repair” or “fixing”]- so how to mend this injury suffered by the Godhead. Tikkun is the processes for this restoration and repair. Adam’s soul was composed of all the levels of divine reality, and was intended to extricate and reintegrate the divine sparks remaining in the qelipot. The cosmic process of tikkun was almost already done. He was to finalize restoration through contemplative exercises. Through mysticism, Adam could have removed the sparks from their demonic shells, thus reestablishing primordial unity. The qelipot would have lost all their power and the original state of perpetual communion with the divine light restored. The end.
But Adam’s transgression interrupted his communion with the upper spheres, attaching him to the lower worlds. The tikkun which had already taken place was reversed, the worlds which had begun to rise and return to their proper position now fel; good and evil were again mixed. Humanity and lower world of Asiyah was materialized, and the sin of Adam caused the sparks of all human souls that had been contained within his own to fall and become imprisoned as well within the qelipot. Tikkun therefore entails two processes: First, the gathering of the divine lights that had fallen into the realm of the qelipot as a result of the “breaking of the vessels,” then the gathering of all the holy souls imprisoned in the qelipot. Tikkun is to be effected through our contemplation. Every religious act- liturgical prayer, performance of mitzvot, and practice of exercises such as yihudim [“unifications” of the Godhead] requires contemplative concentration on the various dimensions of divinity and the combinations of the divine name in order to “raise up the fallen sparks.” Reorganization and restructuring takes place in acts of devotional piety. This contemplative idea characterizes each activity, and [16th-17th cen. kabbalistic author of The Tree of Life] Hayyim Vital’s versions of Luria’s teachings lays out the mystical intentions (kavvanot) in excruciating detail.
Dr Fine in these observations summarizes Luriatic Kabbalah:
1. The condition of disarray in which the cosmos finds itself, according to Lurianic Kabbalah, is a result of two different catastrophic “falls,” one of an intra-divine nature, prior to and independent of human behavior, the other a consequence of human sin.
2. The material world as we know it, as with gnostic myths of late antiquity, is deemed repugnant, evil, inhospitable, opposed in every way to that which is immaterial, divine light and the soul.
3. The project of human life is to separate the holy from the material world, and thus divest that world of all existence. All existence will return to its original spiritual condition, a state synonymous with the messianic age. Lurianism is thus, like the gnostic myths of an earlier time, a complete rejection of the world as we know it, and of the historical process. The vision of redemption is a fundamentally spiritual one in which all things return to olam ha-tikkun [literally “the world of repair,” that is, a world restored to its perfect status before intra-divine catastrophe and human sin]. Thus, the tikkun of which Lurianic Kabbalah speaks is not that of this world, but of “worlds” beyond it.
4. The responsibility for bringing all this about is a human one, not a divine one. Divinity is, in effect, a passive beneficiary of the actions of human beings.
Based on all the above and the connotations Tikkun Olam has in Judaism, both kabbalistic and the mainstream idea of imposing Rabbinical Judaisms ideas of social justice on everyone, I think I will discontinue use of the term. Others may do as they wish.
Dan C
