tikkun olam

Tikkun olam (Hebrew: תיקון עולם‎) is a Hebrew phrase that means, "repairing the world" or "perfecting the world." Wikipedia

NORAH: That reminds me of this part of Judaism that I really like. It’s called Tikkun Olam. It says that the world is broken into pieces and it’s everybody’s job to find them and put them back together again.
NICK: Well maybe we’re the pieces, you know, maybe we’re not supposed to find the pieces, maybe we are the pieces.Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

God contracted the divine self to make room for creation. Divine light became contained in special vessels, or kelim, some of which shattered and scattered. While most of the light returned to its divine source, some light attached itself to the broken shards. These shards constitute evil and are the basis for the material world; their trapped sparks of light give them power. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ethics/Caring_For_Others/Tikkun_Olam_Repairing_the_World_.shtml

Basically, Adam was supposed to fix everything, but the mess he and Eve got into made that impossible, thus trapping all of us, his descendants into the shards of light too.

This all means that it's our turn. We have to go and collect the light that has been scattered and the souls that have been lost. By doing so we will separate this physical world, the tactile stuff from the spiritual, mystical stuff of life, thus causing the world to go back to its sinless state- the way it was in perfection. In other words: heaven.

I find this concept beautiful.
It makes me want to go dance in the rain.

I'm not Jewish, but I certainly accept this in its entirety.

You might hear more about this in blogs to come.



Tonight, I watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, thus the quote. I had actually heard of Tikkun Olam before, in Bee Season (great movie) but had sort of forgotten to Google it.

The movie was great, by the way. The music in it makes me want to run out and buy the soundtrack right now.

This blog is about nothing in particular. Just felt it was time to blog again.

<3