Let’s Start a Revolution: the Case for True Tikkun Olam

Tikkun Olam: Repairing the world. The Jewish world has largely defined this concept as social justice. Righting the wrongs of society: poverty, sickness, crime and more. It has become one of the defining characteristics of what it means to be an authentic Jew in the 21st century. However, the roots of Tikkun Olam go deeper; infinitely deeper. To connect to these roots is nothing short of lighting the spark for a world revolution. Allow me to explain … 

There are two spiritual paradigms that guide much of our behavior. One is referred in Hebrew as “bein adam l’chavero.” This is the notion of being a ‘good neighbor,’ which ties into the concept of Tikkun Olam relayed earlier. The other is “bein adam l’Makom.” This has to do with our personal relationship with Hashem/G-d/Existence. Some of us feel more comfortable with one paradigm and less with the other. And some of us recognize the beauty in harmonizing them with traditions like Shabbat, which for many involve both community and prayer. However, the truth is that they are fundamentally intertwined and cannot be separated. 

The Jewish people’s ultimate belief is, “Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad.” Oneness and the underlying unity of all of Existence resides in the soul of every Jew. But in this TikTok world, we have lost the ability to tap into this reality of Oneness on demand. Yes, that’s right. On demand. It’s our spiritual inheritance to be able to incorporate this transcendent belief into the operations and details of daily living. As Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z’l taught, “the spiritual blueprint of the universe is hardwired into the human mind.” 

Many of us beam with pride when reflecting on the disproportionate number of Nobel prize laureates, heads of history-making social movements and organizations and other world-changing leaders who are Jewish. If we are honest, we know that this is absolutely not normal. It is not normal for such a small, vulnerable, at-risk people to survive centuries of genocides, inquisitions, expulsions and pograms, return to our ancestral homeland after 2,000 years and to top it all off be responsible for so much human progress. It doesn’t make any sense. And yet it does …

Our people have a grand destiny. Each and every one of us has a destiny. The great challenge today is quieting our minds, opening our hearts, and allowing ourselves to hear the Divine voice within. It’s there. It’s always there with so many answers and so much wisdom. Wisdom that will not only change your life, but serve as a blessing for those who you are connected to. And in this digital day and age, that could literally be millions of people across the world. 

But we have allowed layer after layer of spiritual toxicity to drown out the Voice. To bury that which are the keys to personal, and ultimately, global redemption. Like going to a Korean spa and getting a scrub treatment to remove the dead skin and dirt, we have a spiritual equivalent called “Sefirat Ha’Omer,” the “counting of the Omer.” This ‘spiritual wellness treatment’ can sensitize us to the Oneness of creation and might be one of the most powerful hidden secrets of our ancient and beautiful civilization. And today, it is accessible to us all. 

For many of us, Passover is a standalone holiday. But in truth, it’s the launching point to an epic seven-week journey of spiritual refinement. This stems all the way back to the original Exodus. When we left Egypt, we were free; but it was only a partial freedom. As Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z’l explained, “freedom without direction is just another form of slavery.” In Hashem’s loving mercy, we were gifted seven weeks to refine ourselves in preparation for the receiving of the Light of Torah on the holiday of Shavuot. The receiving of our grand mission and destiny as a people. Not six weeks. Not eight weeks. Seven weeks. Why seven? This is where it gets interesting.

Many of us have heard the expression that humanity was created in the image of G-d. What exactly does this mean? We can never truly know G-d. But we can know the attributes in which S/He created existence like the way we can know music. From understanding the mechanics of music theory and symphony composition, to babies bobbing their heads to the rhythm of a song, we all can connect to music on some level. Sometimes, the simplest connection can even be the most powerful because it’s the most pure. The greatest pleasure is when you can lose yourself in the music and become one with it. 

So it is with seven Divine attributes: Chesed (loving-kindness), Gevurah (strength through restraint), Tiferet (harmony, balance, beauty), Netzach (eternity, endurance), Hod (humility, splendor), Yesod (foundation), and Malchut (Kingship/Queenship). Like a seven-tone, spiritual musical scale, when we connect to the frequencies of these seven Sefirot or attributes, we engage in Tikkun HaMiddot, the repairing of our personal character attributes. This individual repair then calibrates to and results in the repair of all of creation. And like an antenna that picks up a radio signal, when the connection is made, the most beautiful music starts to play. One act of goodness could have monumental, cosmic impact and literally be the tipping point towards global redemption. A true redemption song. The journey of Sefirat Ha’Omer is a journey of Tikkun HaMiddot, which directly contributes to Tikkun Olam, the ultimate repairing of our world. Not the symptoms of our society’s ails, but the actual source.

The blessing of the age in which we live is that never has esoteric, abstract, deeply spiritual concepts been so accessible to the Jewish masses irrespective of religious background as it is today. I only personally discovered the transformative power of Sefirat Ha’Omer in 2021, during the isolation of COVID. My journey was so life-changing that I knew I had to share it with others. The seed that was planted then is now blossoming into a global, spiritual movement with participants from the USA, Israel, Canada, England, Australia, Uganda, Spain … and the more recent country: Indonesia. I call the movement, “The Omer Aliyah: A 7-Week Spiritual Bootcamp of Personal Elevation” and every Jew on planet Earth is welcome to be a part of it. 

Together, let’s build a global consciousness of “K’ish Echad b’Lev Echad” (as One Person with One Heart) just like our people experienced over 3,300 years ago at the base of Mount Sinai. When we join together in a spirit of unity and unconditional love, we sanctify Hashem’s name, and blessing flows through us to the entire world. May our individual and national Sefirat Ha’Omer journeys be blessed, resulting in true and everlasting Tikkun Olam.

Neuriel Shore is the Founder of The Omer Aliyah (TOA): A 7-Week Spiritual Bootcamp of Personal Elevation. You can learn more and join the revolution at www.OmerAliyah.com.