#repairing the world – @aph-japan on Tumblr

“It’s important to understand that the theme of life is teshuvah. Most commonly translated as “repentance,” teshuvah has nothing to do with the beating one’s breast and undergoing penance (as in sackcloth and ashes); it means literally “to return” and describes specifically the intricate process of returning to G-d, returning to a life of growth and dynamic becoming. This intricate process begins with fixing one’s mistakes and resolving not to repeat them, but it’s more than that. Kabbalah teaches that teshuvah is the theme of the cosmos. G-d intentionally set in motion the breaking of the vessels. He intentionally created a world full of chaos so that there would be an opportunity for challenge, which would create the possibility of error. Having made mistakes, we can then experience remorse and struggle to find the courage to change for the better. We can then humble ourselves to ask forgiveness and commit ourselves to continued growth. Therefore, teshuvah isn’t relevant exclusively to individuals and their mistakes. Whatever one does affects the entire cosmos, because everything that happens works toward the making order out of the chaos and contributes to the process of constant becoming. Teshuvah is actually the theme of life. We are always in the midst of teshuvah. Life is an endless journey—an adventure in becoming. It’s all about improving, building, and accomplishing—that’s what we love doing.”

— Rabbi David Aaron

#jewish #jewish views #judaism informative #judaism #teshuvah #atonement #atonement arcs #kabbalah #chaos #tikkun olam #rabbi david aaron #repairing the world #self compassion #judaism quotes #judaism is not xtianity #judaism is not judeo christian #redemption arcs are not jewish #atonement arcs are jewish #redemption arcs are xtian hegemony #THIS THIS THIS THIS THI #*Goyim DO NOT FUCKING DERAIL #*Goyim can Like+RB for Reference #(Normally I prefer at times Goyim not reblog {quotes and in depth Kabbalah analysis since its aka Kabbalah is for Jews*} but)#({*to look at from a Very Specifically JEWISH{NESS}+JUDAISM not Christian etc views But})#yom kippur #things to remember #this is important for everyone #anti purity culture #purity culture IS NOT JEWISH #({There were also instances of misinfo DiscourseTM in the past from certain bloggers but since most involved are Inactive lately})

aph-japan reblogged

koushirouizumi

edenfenixblogs

lifeandtimesoftrying asked:

re: your comment about the misinterpretation and misuse of "tikkun olam" by non-Jews, could you please explain what it *does* mean? I've heard that it roughly translates to repairing the world (like with Rabbi Tarfon's "it is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it"), but idk if that's what it actually is or not (sorry if any phrasing is weird, i've been awake for way too long today)

edenfenixblogs answered:

Your understanding is correct.

It does mean repairing the world. This means doing charity and choosing kindness whenever possible and generally doing small and large things without recognition in order to leave the world better than you found it. Plant a tree. Read at a nursing home. Save all your loose change for ten years then donate that amount to a cause you care about. Make kindness that helps others heal a part of your daily practice. This is tikkun olam.

I have seen bigots who consider themselves progressive try to goysplain tikkun olam as Jews attempting to impose their idea of perfection on the world around them and that we use it to justify violence. I have seen people say that Jews consider the bombing of Gaza and Rafah to be the ideal practice of tikkun olam. And it is a blatantly and horrifically false and disingenuous to say this. Tikkun olam is my absolute favorite aspect of my faith. I wake up and choose kindness and peace every single day and have since I learned about this concept. It is not always easy, but it is always worth it.

And to see others pervert it into something violent and to associate that violence as synonymous with Jewish religious ideology is truly one of the most painful things I’ve experienced in this conflict and one of the most bigoted things I’ve experienced in my life.

Tikkun olam is, at its heart, the deep conviction that the world should be a better place for our passage through it. And this extends to everything, the small things and the large. Picking up the litter that you see in your path as you walk is not any less an act of binding up the wounds of a broken world than working as a volunteer at a shelter, or serving as a corpsman. The point is that we do not look away when we see the broken and the hurt, and we act to the best of our ability in the moment. It is deeply Jewish, it is rooted in Torah, and it is ours.

shofarsogood

Here's how tikkun olam is this story:

An old man is planting a carob tree. His neighbor says to him, "Why do you plant the tree? It won't bear fruit for decades! You'll never see it!" The old man replies, "yes, but my grandchild will eat its fruit."

We don't do good things for us. We do good things for the future.

aph-japan reblogged

jasminesapphires

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

anarchistmemecollective

mentalhealthmemez

notthegrouch

“If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning.”

- Vincent van Gogh

#depression #vincent van gogh #historical figures #quotes #repairing the world #self value #self worth #self compassion #self acceptance