Hillel's Teachings and Tikkun Olam

By Shira Novack
KOC Editor
Binghamton University

I have a confession. I've never gone on one of Hillel's alternative service trips. I have one friend who did a service trip to West Virginia in the summer and she found it to be an amazing and eye-opening experience. The same friend is also planning to apply to the Peace Corps after graduation and help make a difference in a distant part of the world. I have another friend who went on a winter break trip to New Orleans and helped rebuild homes after Katrina, and she also found it to be an amazing trip.

These trips are definitely an inspirational way to do good in the world, but they are not the only way. This past fall, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin came to my school on his tour of speaking at Hillels as part of the promotion for his new book about Hillel, Hillel: If Not Now, When? The book talks about Hillel's teachings and how there are multiple things we can learn from him and apply to our world today. The book is fascinating and thought-provoking, and it is already inspiring me to remember Hillel's teachings and try to apply them to my own life in that never-ending effort to become a better person and member of this world.

One of the teachings that Rabbi Telushkin spoke about is what Hillel told to the man who wanted Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while he stood on one foot. This is a very famous story about Hillel, who, unlike his contemporary Shammai, takes up the challenge. Hillel's summary of the Torah is, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn" (Shab. 31a).

Hillel's summary of the Torah shows that the most important thing for us as Jews is to act ethically and morally. This can relate to the necessity of doing tzedakah, because it literally means "justice" or "righteousness." Rabbi Telushkin says that Hillel did not say, "love your neighbor as you love yourself" because that is much harder to follow. People may not always love themselves, or maybe your neighbor doesn't love the same things you do. By putting the commandment in the negative form, Telushkin argues that Hillel made this something more people could follow.

What Hillel said is something that can be easy for us to put into practice in many small ways, and thereby make the world a better place. One small way is to ask how someone is doing and really mean it. It is wonderful when you have that friend who can see that something is wrong and, when you say nothing, they ask, "no really, what's wrong?" By doing small acts of loving-kindness, we can all perform tikkun olam and help to make this world a better place by letting each person know that there is someone out there who cares about them.

There are so many different ways that we can all bring light into the darkness of this world; it could be through a service trip, volunteering locally, or something as simple as small acts of loving-kindness. On the final Shabbat of the semester, Binghamton KOACH Rabbi Shalom Kantor gave a d'var Torah about how one of the most important things in this life is having a hand to hold, and those connections that then form between people. Compassion for others is caring about humanity, and acting upon that compassion – truly giving – is one of the most beautiful things about the human species.

[Posted 6/3/11]