Tikkun olam (תיקון עולם) is a phrase in Hebrew that means "repairing the world."
In Judaism, the concept of tikkun olam originated in the early rabbinic period. Tikkun olam was given new meanings in the kabbalah of the medieval period and has further evolved in modern Judaism. Tikkun olam in the Mishnah is found in the phrase mip'nei tikkun ha-olam ("for the sake of tikkun of the world") to indicate that a practice should not be followed because it is required by Biblical law, but because it helps avoid social chaos.
The modern Reform Jewish interpretation of tikkun olam is to "heal the world" in order to make the world a better place for all. In modern Orthodox Jewish thought, the performance of mitzvot, both ethical and ritual (commandments), are perceived as crucial to tikkun olam. Some Jews believe that the performance of mitzvot will lead to a model society in the Jewish world that will ultimately influence non-Jewish neighbors. In Orthodox and Chasidic communities the performance of ritual tikkun olan is believed to be essential to the coming of the messiah or messianic age.
Modern liberal or Reform Jewish thought interprets "Tikkun olam" to mean social action and the pursuit of social justice. Liberal Jews use the term "tikkun olam" to refer to acts of repair by human beings. Liberal Jewish activists do not necessarily believe in tikkun olam's cosmological implications embraced by Orthodox or Chasidic Jews. Their focus is on acts of social responsibility, on fixing the world.
First used in a modern context in the 1950's, the term 'tikkun olam' has evloved in subsequent decades to mean tzedakah (charitable giving) and gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness) and responsiblity for social issues.
In modern Orthodoxy and Chasidic communities tikkun olam has been reassociated with the kabbalah and spiritual theological meaning.
The core of our insight [as Reform Jews] is that serious Jewish study inevitably leads to the soup kitchen; that serious prayer, among other vital things, is a way of preparing to do battle with injustice, that social justice without being grounded in text, without a sense of God's presence, is ephemeral and unsustainable. The heart of the argument is that there is no such thing as 'Social Action Judaism,' that the thread of social justice is so authentically and intricately woven into the many-colored fabric we call Judaism that if you seek to pull that thread out, the entire fabric unravels, that the Judaism that results is distorted, is neutered, is rendered aimless. - Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism