Debating Tikkun Olam
In “Abusing Tikkun Olam,” (March 23) Joel Alperson writes that “Jewishly speaking, tikkun olam without God is impossible.” Quite the contrary. In its original usage in the Mishnah, tikkun olam was the rabbinic principle that allowed God’s decrees in the Torah to be set aside whenever they got in the way of maintaining a stable social order. According to both Maimonides and the influential 14th-century talmudist Rabbi Nissim of Gerona, a Jewish king may, if the exigency of the hour demands it, execute criminals without proper evidence for the sake of tikkun olam. Thus, if the concept of tikkun olam is best heralded in support of any policy position, it is clearly the right-wing position that some of the niceties of American criminal law can legitimately be suspended in the War on Terror.
Nathan Bloom
Chicago, Ill.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
