Tikkun Olam
What is Tikkun Olam?
Translated literally, tikkun olam means “repair of the world.” It is a mystical concept developed by Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) hundreds of years ago. But beginning some time in the 1970s here in America, it has become a popular term for any kind of Jewish social action that helps create a fairer, most just society and that makes the world a better, more healthy place for all who live in it.
Why Do Tikkun Olam Now?
According to our tradition, all Jewish adults have a responsibility to take part in tikkun olam. With this in mind, we feel it is important to give students the opportunity to experience a variety of kinds of tikkun olam in their bar/bat mitzvah year. We hope that this will inspire them to keep doing tikkun olam as Jewish adults.
Miranda Phillips, our Renaissance Educator and Bar/Bat Mitzvah Coordinator, oversees our b’nei mitzvah Tikkun Olam program. Please contact her with any questions or concerns: phillipsville@hotmail.com, (617) 965-5443.
We require that our 7th graders engage in tikkun olam activities in two ways: as a class and individually. Both are described in detail below.
We also ask that students reflect on the activities they do. For this purpose, we’ve designed a “tikkun olam journal”. These will be given out on the first day of Kitah Zayin (and given to Dorshei Tzedek b’nei mitzvah kids who are not in our Hebrew school). Approximately 6 and 3 months before the bar/bat mitzvah, Miranda will give your child a short writing assignment in the journal.
We will arrange three group activities for b’nei mitzvah kids to do during the Kitah Zayin school year. We hope these activities will give kids a taste of the wide range of tikkun olam opportunities that exist here in the Boston area. We expect your child will do his/her best to come to all of these events. You will get a list of these activities when school starts in the fall. Please note them on your calendar, and let us know in advance if your child cannot attend. If your child misses two of the three programs, s/he will need to make up that time. Miranda or Cindy will discuss alternatives with you as needed.
In addition to participating in group-activities (above), each student in their bar/bat mitzvah year does a personal tikkun olam project. For the most part, these individual projects fall into two categories:
1. Projects which involve a regular time commitment (e.g. tutoring, serving food at a shelter)
2. Projects which do not involve a regular time commitment (e.g. collection drives, letter-writing campaigns, etc.).
Both kinds of tikkun olam projects are valuable. See the sheet at the back of this packet for a list of examples.
Whatever project your child takes on, we ask that s/he do the following: a few months before
the bar/bat mitzvah service, your child should begin to think how s/he will educate bar/bat mitzvah guests about the tikkun olam project s/he’s been doing. This teaching can be done in a number of simple ways: your child can mention the project in his/her d’var Torah;
have handouts available describing the project and suggesting simple ways for guests to help; make some sort of visual to display at the service or kiddush. However your child chooses to teach, s/he should:
A) give some background on the social issue that the project addresses
B) reflect something about his/her experience of the project
C) suggest simple, easy opportunities for guests, too, to help.
In deciding what s/he will share about the project, your child can use as a resource his or her tikkun olam journal (see above): this journal was designed to help kids explore exactly those things they’ll be asked to share with the congregation.
Because of the varied nature of possible Tikkun Olam projects, it is difficult to give a specific number of hours that the project should fill. Our goal is that each student have a meaningful experience and also understand the importance of committing one’s time to community service. If your project involves a regular time commitment (e.g. a few hours on a Sunday afternoon), then it would be appropriate to make that commitment for six to nine months, depending on the frequency of the activity (i.e. whether it is weekly, monthly, etc.). If the activity is more time-intensive—e.g. organizing a clothing drive for a homeless shelter—then the time is not as important a marker as the quality of the experience and the responsibility the student takes for overseeing the project.
We are continually researching and collecting ideas for projects and organizations that provide volunteer opportunities for 12-13 year-olds. While it is often tempting to raise money for a good cause in lieu of volunteering, we would like to emphasize the importance of each student doing some kind of hands-on work that will bring new experiences and insights. If you decide to do a clothing or book drive or the like, the project should entail meeting with people at the organization for which the materials are being collected, and learning about the issues involved.
In addition to volunteer opportunities, we also encourage our upcoming b’nei mitzvah to think about doing an advocacy project on an issue that is important to them—e.g. organizing a petition drive or letter-writing campaign. (See attached for more information on advocacy projects).
When to Start
Your child should start 6 months before bar/bat mitzvah (though you’re of course welcome to start sooner!). The bnei mitzvah coordinator will contact you 7 months before bar/bat mitzvah to check in and offer any support you might need to choose and start a project. In the meantime, you might like to browse the attached list of tikkun olam opportunities to get some ideas. If you know of other great opportunities, please tell the bnei mitzvah coordinator so she can add them to this list.
As noted earlier, tikkun olam (“repair of the world”) is a broad term describing any kind of Jewish social action. In doing a tikkun olam project, your child will help to repair the world through gemilut chasadim – acts of lovingkindness. Such acts involve giving of one’s time and energy. That kind of giving is essential to improving the world. Equally important, however, is tzedakah, giving of money. We strongly encourage you to make tzedakah, too, a part of your child’s bar/bat mitzvah. For suggestions, see the “opportunities for tzedakah” section of your Bnei Mitzvah Guidelines”.