(ב) בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיָה עוֹשֶׂה בֵית דִּין בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר וּמְבַטְּלוֹ. הִתְקִין רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן שֶׁלֹּא יְהוּ עוֹשִׂין כֵּן, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיָה מְשַׁנֶּה שְׁמוֹ וּשְׁמָהּ, שֵׁם עִירוֹ וְשֵׁם עִירָהּ. וְהִתְקִין רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן שֶׁיְּהֵא כוֹתֵב, אִישׁ פְּלוֹנִי וְכָל שֵׁם שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ, אִשָּׁה פְלוֹנִית וְכָל שׁוּם שֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהּ, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם:
At first, a man [who had already sent his wife a get by messenger] would set up a Beit Din in a different place and cancel it. Rabban Gamliel the Elder established that this should not be done, for the sake of Tikkun HaOlam.
At first, a man could use a different name for himself, his wife, his city, or her city [on a Get]. Rabban Gamliel the Elder established that one should write one's name and any other name that he has and her name and any other name that she has for the sake of Tikkun HaOlam.
(ג) אֵין אַלְמָנָה נִפְרַעַת מִנִּכְסֵי יְתוֹמִים אֶלָּא בִשְׁבוּעָה. נִמְנְעוּ מִלְּהַשְׁבִּיעָהּ, הִתְקִין רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן שֶׁתְּהֵא נוֹדֶרֶת לַיְתוֹמִים כָּל מַה שֶּׁיִּרְצוּ, וְגוֹבָה כְתֻבָּתָהּ. הָעֵדִים חוֹתְמִין עַל הַגֵּט, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. הִלֵּל הִתְקִין פְּרוֹזְבּוּל מִפְּנֵּי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם:
...Witnesses sign on a Get, because of Tikkun HaOlam. Hillel instituted the Prozbul because of Tikkun HaOlam.
(ו) הַמּוֹכֵר עַבְדּוֹ לְגוֹי אוֹ לְחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ, יָצָא בֶן חוֹרִין. אֵין פּוֹדִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִים יוֹתֵר עַל כְּדֵי דְמֵיהֶן, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. וְאֵין מַבְרִיחִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִין, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, מִפְּנֵי תַקָּנַת הַשְּׁבוּיִין. וְאֵין לוֹקְחִים סְפָרִים, תְּפִלִּין וּמְזוּזוֹת מִן הַגּוֹיִם יוֹתֵר עַל כְּדֵי דְמֵיהֶן, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם:
...We do not ransom captives for more than they are worth, for the sake of Tikkun HaOlam. We do not help captives escape, for the sake of the community. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: for the sake of the captives.
We do not buy religious books, tefillin, and mezuzot from the non-Jews for more than their worth, for the sake of Tikkun HaOlam.
(13) Consider God’s doing! Who can straighten/repair what God has twisted?
(א) רְאֵה אֶת מַעֲשֵׂה הָאֱלֹהִים כִּי מִי יוּכַל לְתַקֵּן אֵת אֲשֶׁר עִוְּתוֹ, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, נְטָלוֹ וְהֶחֱזִירוֹ עַל כָּל אִילָנֵי גַּן עֵדֶן, וְאָמַר לוֹ, רְאֵה מַעֲשַׂי כַּמָּה נָאִים וּמְשֻׁבָּחִין הֵן, וְכָל מַה שֶּׁבָּרָאתִי בִּשְׁבִילְךָ בָּרָאתִי, תֵּן דַּעְתְּךָ שֶׁלֹא תְקַלְקֵל וְתַחֲרִיב אֶת עוֹלָמִי, שֶׁאִם קִלְקַלְתָּ אֵין מִי שֶׁיְתַקֵּן אַחֲרֶיךָ...
(1) Look at God's work - for who can straighten what God has twisted? (Ecclesiastes 7:13). When the Blessed Holy One created the first human, God took him and led him round all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: “Look at My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! And all that I have created, it was for you that I created it. Pay attention that you do not corrupt and destroy My world: if you corrupt it, there is no one to repair it after you...
עַל כֵּן נְקַוֶּה לָךְ, יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ, לִרְאוֹת מְהֵרָה בְּתִפְאֶֽרֶת עֻזָּךְ, לְהַֽעֲבִיר גִּלּוּלִים מִן הָאָֽרֶץ, וְהָֽאֱלִילִים כָּרוֹת יִכָּֽרֵתוּן, לְתַקֵּן עוֹלָם בְּמַלְכוּת שַׁדַּי, וְכָל־בְּנֵי בָשָׂר יִקְרְאוּ בִשְׁמֶֽךָ, לְהַפְנוֹת אֵלֶֽיךָ כָּל־רִשְׁעֵי אָֽרֶץ. יַכִּֽירוּ וְיֵֽדְעוּ כָּל־יֽוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵֽל, כִּי לְךָ תִכְרַע כָּל־בֶּֽרֶךְ, תִּשָּׁבַע כָּל־לָשׁוֹן. לְפָנֶֽיךָ, יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ יִכְרְעוּ וְיִפֹּֽלוּ, וְלִכְבוֹד שִׁמְךָ יְקָר יִתֵּֽנוּ, וִיקַבְּלוּ כֻלָּם אֶת־עֹל מַלְכוּתֶֽךָ, וְתִמְלוֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם מְהֵרָה לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד. כִּי הַמַּלְכוּת שֶׁלְּךָ הִיא, וּלְעֽוֹלְמֵי עַד תִּמְלוֹךְ בְּכָבוֹד. כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרָתָךְ: יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ יִמְלֹ֖ךְ לְעֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃ וְנֶאֱמַר. וְהָיָ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה לְמֶ֖לֶךְ עַל־כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִהְיֶ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶחָ֖ד וּשְׁמ֥וֹ אֶחָֽד׃
Therefore we put our hope in You, Eternal our God, to soon see the perfection of Your strength, to remove material things from the earth, and false gods will be forever cut off, to repair the world through the kingship of God. All humanity will call out in Your name, and all the wicked of the earth will turn to You. All the inhabitants of the world will know and understand that to You every knee must bend, every tongue must swear an oath.
Before You, Eternal our God, they shall bow down and be humble, and for the glory of Your name they will give honour. All shall accept the yoke of Your dominion, and You shall rule over them soon, and forever and ever.
For Yours is the sovereignty, and for eternity You will rule in glory, as it is written in your Torah: “The Eternal shall rule forever and ever” (Exodus 15:18), and it is said: “the Eternal shall be Ruler over all the earth, on that day the Eternal shall be one and God's name shall be one” (Zechariah 14:9).
(ט)...וְכָל דַּיָּן שֶׁדָּן דִּין אֱמֶת לַאֲמִתּוֹ אֲפִלּוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת כְּאִלּוּ תִּקֵּן אֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ...
(9)...And every judge who judges truth unto its [deepest] truth, even for one hour, it's as if he fixed the whole world entirely...
At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring this world into being, to make room for creation, He first drew in His breath, contracting Himself. From that contraction darkness was created. And when God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), the light that came into being filled the darkness, and ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light.
In this way God sent forth those ten vessels, like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. Had they all arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. But the vessels were too fragile to contain such a powerful, divine light. They broke open, split asunder, and all the holy sparks were scattered like sand, like seeds, like stars. Those sparks fell everywhere, but more fell on the Holy Land than anywhere else.
That is why we were created — to gather the sparks, no matter where they are hidden. God created the world so that the descendents of Jacob could raise up the holy sparks. That is why there have been so many exiles — to release the holy sparks from the servitude of captivity. In this way the Jewish people will sift all the holy sparks from the four corners of the earth.
And when enough holy sparks have been gathered, the broken vessels will be restored, and tikkun olam,the repair of the world, awaited so long, will finally be complete. Therefore it should be the aim of everyone to raise these sparks from wherever they are imprisoned and to elevate them to holiness by the power of their soul.
...The Ari explained that whenever the Torah was studied or one of the commandments of the law fulfilled, some of the holy sparks were raised up... Now, for the first time, the Ari proposed that there was a purpose to the mitzvot, the commandments, beyond serving God’s will. Studying the Torah, observing the law, healing the ills of the world, or performing good deeds all made it possible to gather the sparks, and thus fulfill the great mitzvah of tikkun olam.
- Prof. Howard Schwartz, "How the Ari Created a Myth and Transformed Judaism", Tikkun Magazine, 2011 http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/how-the-ari-created-a-myth-and-transformed-judaism
-Arnold Jacob Wolf, ‘Repairing Tikkun Olam’
[While some have suggested a] hiatus on the term tikkun olam, ... [many] people – both inside and outside of the Jewish community – find the term tikkun olam extraordinarily compelling, even more so than other Hebrew terms such as tzedek or g’milut chasadim, which have not gained the same traction in the general discourse. The popularity of the term tikkun olam, and the general emphasis on its Lurianic, rather than rabbinic, roots may indicate a desire to place one’s own work in a larger context of influencing the greater world. In an individual’s search for the meaning of his or her own life, it may be more compelling to think of one’s every action as contributing to the repair of the cosmos, than to think of the same actions as simply accomplishing a small fix to a much larger problem.
Rather than reject the term altogether as meaningless, I suggest a re-imagining of tikkun olam that combines the four understandings of the term that we have seen in traditional text: 1) the Aleynu’s concept of tikkun as the destruction of any impurities that impede the full manifestation of the divine presence; 2) the literalist midrashic understanding of tikkun olam as the establishment of a sustainable world; 3) the rabbinic willingness to invoke tikkun ha’olam as a justification for changing untenable laws; and 4) the Lurianic belief that individual actions can affect the fate of the world as a whole.
- R. Jill Jacobs, "The History of 'Tikkun Olam'", Zeek Magazine, 2007. http://www.zeek.net/706tohu/