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Loosely Translated : Healing the World/Repairing the World

Be it social justice, environmental responsibility or general improvements to the community. It's one of the tenets of the Mishnah. (Unwritten law)

It's a key point in Lurianic Kabbalah.

Lurianic Kabbalah writings started in the 13th century, saying that HASHEM put a bit of His Holiness in the form of a 'spark of light' into vessels. These vessels of HASHEM shattered at the time of creation and the 'sparks' entered the world. Through Tikkum Olam you could release the 'sparks of light' from the earth and reunite them with Heaven. Giving HASHEM a chance to re-release them into the world, to influence things and make the world a better place.

In a modern concept, terrorist suicide bombings are the absence of Tikkum Olam. When people wrap their children in dynamite and have them destroy themselves and as many other of their perceived enemies in they can in the name of G-d, assured their actions will send them to heaven.

While in the presence of Tikkum Olam, people from many different religions can coexist peacefully and learn to respect each other and each other's belief system. That monotheists and polytheists and athiests can live the lives they live without fear or persecution or reprisal from others who do not feel the same as they do.

Many of the greatest wars and causes of pain and suffering among people is when one side misinterprets the message of G-d and when that happens, there is no chance of Tikkum Olam.

This is one of the reasons I write for a pagan magazine. Yes, I am Jewish, but the Polytheists and Monotheists of the world have not had the greatest relations. My writings do not teach others how to worship, nor do I condemn or condone any practice of religion. My main goal is to bring more attention to the message of pagan ministries and give the followers of Wicca the same recognition that we Jews enjoy this day.

Deuteronomy 13 verse 14 through 17 talks about the will of G-d being to be the destroyer of pagan cities and centers of idolatry.

'Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of thee, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying: Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known'; then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of thee; thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the broad place thereof, and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, unto the LORD thy God; and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

However I interpret these things differently, I see it as a metaphor. I see it as the will of HASHEM to tear down the walls that hinder communication that cause two different people to look on each other with fear and loathing, wondering when the other side will strike first and destroy their way of living. That HASHEM wants the pagans and the Jews to come together as one, that we don't need to live in different cities, that we are all one people living on one planet. That is what Tikkum Olam means to me.

But you can see how easily a set of verses like that could be misinterpreted. However, at the same time, I could be wrong, I'm not so bold as to guess what HASHEM's actual will is, I only interpret the message given through the Tanakh and I think this is what he wants me to do.

We release the holy spark in an object by using that object in the performance of a mitzvah (a sacred obligation -- one of the commandments in the Torah) or an act of kindness. For instance, a copy of "Winnie The Pooh" book bears a spark of holiness that is released when one reads it to a child in order to reinforce the parent-child bond or to dispel nightmares. The spark of holiness in a carrot is released when someone eats it, thus sustaining a life (and if it's a person who eats it, more holiness is released when they make the appropriate blessing before and after eating). A blessing in a slaughterer's knife is released when the appropriate blessing is made, and an animal given kosher, humane slaughter; the animal's sparks are also released this way. These are all called mitzvot aseh (mitzvot that one does).

There are also mitzvot she-lo-aseh (mitzvot that one does not -- that is, things that one is commanded not to do). The sparks inherent in money, for instance, or anything else that one can steal, are freed by a person being tempted to steal them, and then making a conscious decision not to steal those things.