TIKKUN OLAM; THE HEALING, THE CHANGING OF THE WORLD

Heard the words in a song on the radio:
"We Spend Our Days Begging, Borrowing, and Stealing."
How can a song like this benefit society unless we think to ourselves that we must change this, change these behaviors, not fall prey to them--stop the negative behaviors and instead start doing what is righteous: "Spend Our Days Giving, Lending, and Crediting."

What can we do to change? Give a dollar to a beggar if what you have are 2 dollars. Keep 1 dollar for yourself and give 1 away. Find joy in watching a beggar eat: if you have enough food for 2 meals, feed the hungry a meal and keep a meal for yourself. You will not go hungry, you have enough food for 2, so give a little food away--if you keep it, it will spoil anyway, because a person can eat just so much without over-stuffing himself.

If you do not have enough even for 1 meal to feed yourself, then humble yourself to receive food from another who has 2 meals and wants to give one away, to give you his extra food. The way the world goes around is by giving and receiving. Living selfishly or living generously, this is not a choice--we must and should pay taxes--so that the poor man has a meal.

It is not just physical property that needs to be shared, something for everyone, it is the way one person treats another: watch what you say to another--instead of expressing inner anger or jealousy, instead of trying to destroy someone's ego to put your own up, say something favorable to someone to aid him in his view of how to see himself: give verbal encouragement to another human being, tell him that you believe in him. Sometimes all we need is for someone out there to believe in us, to believe "We Can Do It." To give someone a stroke, a word of kindness, instead of belittling someone or doubting him, or worse yet threatening someone to get from him what you want, something that you are not entitled to get from him in the first place.

It is a miracle in my life that someone said to me today "You are a very nice person, very well mannered, I hope you have a beautiful day!" This person gave of himself to say something nice to me today. And it was said early in the morning so it could carry  me through the day starting me out on the right foot. If someone says "I love you" or even just cares enough to say "Good morning," it can be the impetus to change someone's entire attitude toward the world; and if everyone's attitude changes, then the world will change. This is Tikkun Olam--the meaning of these  Hebrew words is: "The Healing, The Changing Of The World."