“Tikkun” Means Repair

One Hebrew word slowly working its way into mainstream culture is tikkun — because it’s found in the phrase tikkun olam, the obligation of working to repair the world around us.

This morning Rabbi Angela Buchdahl at Central Synagogue in Manhattan led a guided meditation with tikkun, after telling a story about accidentally breaking a family heirloom deeply related to her Korean heritage, then finding someone who could repair it in a very meaningful way.

So here is a little vase made my my German Jewish English grandmother. One day, careless in my writing room, I broke a chip off the top. I mended it as best I could. The vase is especially beautiful to me, because her hands formed it.

Also this morning, my poem “Rescuing the Abandoned Property in Vermont” has the honor of being published at the Journal of Radical Wonder. It’s about another form of repair. Or should I say, healing?

That’s what this series is all about.

Now, back to this week’s writing.