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When we speak about Tikkun Olam, the correction of the world, people usually imagine acts of charity, social initiatives, or political systems aimed at improving society. However, from the perspective of the wisdom of Kabbalah, such understanding is far from touching the root of the matter. The correction of the world is not external but internal. It depends on correcting the nature of human relationships.
The world today is experiencing growing economic instability, social fragmentation, ecological imbalance, and a deep personal sense of emptiness and uncertainty. Despite humanity’s technological and scientific progress, humanity feels increasingly lost. The reason for this is not due to faulty systems or poor leadership, but in human nature itself. At the core of all problems is egoism, i.e., the desire to benefit oneself at the expense of others. This force has driven human development for thousands of years, pushing us forward through competition, ambition, and the need to dominate.
However, in recent generations, a fundamental change has taken place. Humanity has become globally interconnected. Economies, cultures, communication systems, and even our emotional states are tied together in ways we did not experience before. We have effectively become a single integrated system. Yet while the system itself has become unified, the relationships within it remain egoistic. This contradiction of external connection with internal separation is what manifests as an increase of problems in all fields of life on a global scale.
Some believe that the solution lies in breaking these connections, returning to isolation, nationalism, or self-sufficiency. But this is impossible. Our interconnection is not something we created. It is a stage in nature’s development. Just as cells in a living organism are inherently connected, humanity has evolved into a single body. We cannot undo this process. The question, therefore, is not whether we should be connected, but how we should adjust our attitudes within this connection.
The correction of the world, Tikkun Olam, means correcting the quality of the connection between us. Instead of egoistic relationships, where each person seeks personal benefit even at the expense of others, we must learn to build relationships based on mutual responsibility, consideration, and care. This does not mean erasing our individuality or eliminating the ego, but rising above it and using it correctly. In Kabbalah, this transition is described as moving from reception to bestowal, from taking to giving. When each individual retains their uniqueness but acts for the benefit of the whole, harmony naturally emerges, just as in a healthy body where each cell functions for the life of the organism.
Such a transformation cannot be imposed from the outside. It requires a new kind of education, an understanding of the interconnected nature of reality and of our role within it. People must gradually come to recognize that their well-being depends on the well-being of others, that all the problems we experience stem from incorrect human relations, and that the solution lies in correcting them. Through this process, a person begins to feel the system they are part of and develops a new attitude toward others.
Within humanity, there is a group historically known as “Israel,” not in the narrow national sense, but as those who carry the inclination toward connection. The term “Israel” comes from Yashar-El, which means “directed at the Creator,” that is, at the force of unity and love that governs reality. This group once attained a state of unity, living according to the principle “love your neighbor as yourself,” and later fell from that level into separation and exile. Their dispersion among the nations was not accidental but part of a process of integration with all humanity.
Today, the time has come for this group to realize its role once again: to rebuild unity among themselves and to serve as an example for the world. The nations of the world, whether consciously or not, feel that the key to a better life lies in this method of connection. When this expectation is not fulfilled, it manifests as pressure and blame, often expressed as antisemitism. This phenomenon, therefore, has a deeper root than politics or culture. It is tied to an unfulfilled function within the human system.
If this group begins to implement the principle of unity and demonstrates it in practice, the attitude of the world will change accordingly. Instead of hostility and division, there will be support and cooperation. This is because humanity is a single interconnected system, and a change in one part influences the whole.
The correction of the world does not begin with changing institutions or systems, but with transforming the relationships between people. As we build connections based on mutual responsibility and care, we begin to feel a new layer of reality, a common field of connection that Kabbalah calls the “soul.” Within this connection, we discover the higher force of nature, the Creator, which is the force of love and bestowal that sustains all of existence.
Therefore, Tikkun Olam is not about fixing the world externally, but about correcting the connection between us. When we change the nature of our relationships, we align ourselves with the integral laws of nature, resolve all of our problems at their root, and open the way to a new level of human existence, one that is harmonious, unified, and whole.
Based on the video “What Is Tikkun Olam? – Jtimes with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.” Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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