Ways to Practice Tikkun Olam

Tikkun Olam is the Jewish concept of “repairing the world”. This mean working towards creating a better environment and community to live in. This can take a lot of different forms when put to practice. It could be as simple as donating money to a charity or starting a compost pile in your backyard. It could also be as big as volunteering at your local food shelter, or supporting a cause you feel passionately about.

In Audrey Ades debut children’s book, Judah Touro Didn’t Want to be Famous, she highlights the good deeds Judah does later in his life. Through Tikkun Olam and Judah spends life giving back back to the community and shared his wealth with everyone.

During these uncertain times, you may be wondering how can you practice Tikkun Olam while staying safe inside. In the spirit of Tikkun Olam and Judah Touro, we have a list of suggestions to practice Tikkun Olam during quarantine.

Create face masks from old clothing/cloth.

In the spirit of Tikkun Olam and Pekuach Nefesh (saving a life), a fun family project would be to gather up old clothes and turn them into face masks for people to wear. You can set them on your door step for people to walk up and take. Or donate them to your local hospital, shelter, or any place you think could use them.

Make little hygiene care packages.

In the same spirit as making face masks, you can create little care packages of hand sanitizer, tissue, little bars of soap, bottles of water, etc.

Send someone a hand-written Shabbatogram

There’s nothing better than receiving a handwritten note from someone, especially a shabbatogram! Using scrap paper, markers, and any decorations you have lying around, make some lovely shabbatograms to mail to people! Send them to family members that you can’t currently see in person. Send them as thank you notes to your local essential workers thanking them for their service. Send them to your neighbors to brighten their day.

Donate to a COVID-19 Relief Fun

Many organizations and businesses are creating relief funds to help support people during this time of uncertainty. You can help by donating money to help fund meals, or care for individuals who are unable to right now.

Send someone a book!

Reading has always been a way to teach, learn, and pass the time. So what better way to help someone in quarantine than to send them a few Kar-Ben books for them to read-aloud with their family!

What are some other ways you can practice Tikkun Olam these days?