Our focus this week is on tikkun olam, an unfamiliar phrase once upon a time, though now most recognize it as the repair of the world, social justice work. It occurred to me in crafting prompts for this week that I’m spanning a wide range of participants on at least two different levels: those who are just starting to experience themselves as activists, and those who’ve devoted their lives to activism; those who are at the height of their strength and energy in life, and those who, like me, are not realistically able to offer what we once did to cherished causes. I hope, whatever your life situation, you will recognize yourself in the prompts this week and cull meaning from the writing they inspire.

A word about this week’s video: it’s not current – it was made before the war in Ukraine. Nonetheless, I believe you will find it valuable as it retraces a journey to activism.

Prompts for week 3

(1) - Entering the Conversation

When I was growing up in Brooklyn, my mother didn't read the New York Times. In the evenings [after work] when she finally had an opportunity to sit down and relax a little, she read the afternoon edition of the World Telegram and Sun, a paper that had Ann Landers and a page of comic strips in the back. From this I learned that the affairs of the world are complicated, dense, beyond the capabilities of women. From this I learned that women are not political. For some years into adulthood even, the palpable anxiety I felt when faced with a page of Hebrew letters was the same palpable anxiety I felt when faced with the front page of the news section of the New York Times: I can't do this, this is for grownups, this is for men.

~ Tell a story from your childhood or adolescence about someone in your life who, positively or negatively, modeled a way to interface with the problems in the world. What did you learn from them? How do you carry that person with you today?

(2) - Getting Proximate to the Problem

Get proximate to the problem. Get close to the things that matter, get close to the places where there is inequality and suffering, get close to the spaces where people feel oppressed, burdened, and abused… See what it does to your capacity to make a difference, see what it does to you.

Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative; initiator of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery AL

~ When have you gotten “proximate to the problem”? What was “the problem”? What qualities of yours allowed you to get close? What happened? Were you able to make an impact, to foster change? If not, how do you assess the effort? How did you change, grow?

[or]

~ When have you felt an impulse to get “close to a problem” but wound up feeling unable to do so? What were the obstacles? What did you learn from this experience? Notice if there’s a punishing or judgmental tone – can you tell the story from the place of compassion?

(3) - Choosing Your Ground

~ Consider the dizzying range of local, national and global problems. What is one particular issue/need that feels most compelling for you in this moment? Obviously you can’t spread yourself too thin. It’s important to feel called to what you’re doing so you‘ll have staying power.

~ Now consider your particular strengths: calm in a storm? energetic? long-term strategist? focus on the here and now? tech skills? deep listener? creative problem solver? coalition builder? eloquent writer? connections to media? an understanding of the legislative process? fiery speaker? past experience or training in one of the above issues?

Respond to this prompt by digging deep to begin connecting how you might creatively harness your innate strength to contribute to tikkun olam in one particular area of concern.

(4) - Finding Mentors and Partners

Not yet 75, Ruth

In November 2008, an interfaith group of forty Americans traveled to Israel and the West Bank to support the work of Rabbis for Human Rights. We visited Israeli and Palestinian human rights and social justice programs and planted trees at various sites in solidarity with peace initiatives.

Striding toward the far end of the rocky field,
the olive sapling balanced on her hip—
about the same heft as an eighteen month old—
she surveys the difficult terrain, the raw
November morning, then exercises patience
as she waits her turn for the pick.

She remembers another time, another world,
remembers what it was like to be here then,
working the soil in an infant country,
full of dreams and prayers and innocence.

A full lifetime of striding, balancing life
on her hip, looking for the places to plant life,
life that longs only to be planted and to grow.
Unbelievable, she thinks, that anyone fights
over this soil impervious to shovels, soil
that resists even a pick and a strong stubborn back.

And now, her turn, she digs. Rhythmically
the pick rises and falls, slowly persistence
is rewarded, the hole finally deep and wide enough,
she places the olive sapling in the earth.

But all the hard years have taught her
physical straining is just the beginning
of planting a tree. She stands and waits
for the song and the prayer to rise within her
then tears come too, tears of sorrow
and pain, tears of hope, fierce love.

What more have the hard years taught her?
Be on the lookout for what needs to be done
and for partners—the only hope is shoulder to shoulder;
surrender to the work, persist, especially in rocky soil;

don’t give in, don’t give up, don’t give out
and don’t get sentimental—it’s a waste of time;
always at the end, listen for the prayer, the prayer that rises
within, listen for the prayer of thanksgiving and the prayer
of supplication—thank you God for the strength to do this work,
thank you God for returning me to this beloved place;

please God, nurture this tender sapling,
grant it long life, let it bear much fruit.
And please God, see our suffering, hear our cries,
help us to find each other—isn’t it time yet for peace?

The raw morning is warming. She turns back toward
the truck, striding to bring the next sapling.

~ I doubt that efforts to address societal problems can meet with much success when undertaken solo. With what admired friend[s] or mentor[s] would you like to stand “shoulder to shoulder” in tikkun olam work? What might you hope to do with them?

~ Now that I’ve reached the age of Ruth in this poem, I feel my respect for and awe of her multiplied manyfold. But as a result of long Covid, I’m simply no longer blessed with vigorous health, able to “strid[e] toward the far end of the rocky field, the olive sapling balanced on [my] hip.” If you feel yourself to be, like me, slowed down by age or by compromised health, explore in writing how you can continue to embody your still fierce commitments to repair the world. A few opening ideas: as ally; as funder and/or fundraiser; as mentor; as consultant; as recruiter; as volunteer office staff; as spokesperson; as protester…

May your courage and openness be strengthened by this Elul work and may it be a hallmark of your day-to-day life and spiritual practice in the coming year!

Elul - A Time for Turning