What Is The Meaning Of Tikkun (Repair) On Tikkun Leil Shavuot?

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1 What Is The Meaning Of Tikkun (Repair) On Tikkun Leil Shavuot? What we will learn: The custom of taking part in a Tikkun on the eve of Shavuot has been adopted by almost all Jewish communities irrespective of ethnic background, despite the fact that it is not referred to anywhere in the classical halachic literature. In recent years this custom has assumed new form following a growing Jewish renewal in the Israeli bet midrash. In this encounter we return to the traditional Tikkun order that was set approximately 400 years ago. We will learn what the Zohar says about Tikkun Leil Shavuot, read the Bakashah that prefaces the study, and examine the writings of the Ben Ish Chai and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. In conclusion we will examine the dictionary definition of the word Tikkun. Through a special evening of contemplation on the idea of Tikkun we will try to discover how to create a Tikkun in our everyday lives. 1. A Night of Connections Why do you think the custom of learning Torah on Shavuot took on the name Tikkun? Prayer Before Study "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud shofar blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. (Shmot 19, 16) "As the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of the Almighty resounded. (Shmot 19, 19). When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the shofar and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear and stayed at a distance. (Shmot 20, 18). And it is written: The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not only with our ancestors that the Almighty made this covenant, but also with us, all of us who are alive here today. The Almighty spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. (Dvarim 5, 2-4). And it says: I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Almighty our God but also with those who are not here today. (Dvarim 29, 14-15). The Almighty came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads (Dvarim 29, 33-2). Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance to the congregation of Jacob. (Dvarim 29, 33-4). Tikkun Leil Shavuot: Bakashah before Learning, Sefer Kri ei Moed, Baghdad, 5670 (1909). Which verses of the Bakashah connect us to Matan Torah? What inspirational / conceptual connection is created by quoting these verses together? Why is it important to connect to the Giving on the Torah before starting to learn on Erev Shavuot?

2 The Aim of Learning We learned that the Torah we must labor in on this night is the Oral Law, so that together we are purified from the deep wellspring of the stream. Afterwards on this day he will bring the Written Law and will be connected with it and they will take part in a coupling in Heaven. Then they will say about it, As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Almighty. My spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth " (Isaiah 59, 21). Because of this the early Hassidim did not sleep that night and toiled in Torah, and said We and our children will inherit a sacred inheritance in two worlds. And on that night the Jewish People adorns itself and comes to be joined (as man and wife) with the Almighty, and they both adorn the head of those who merit it. As Rabbi Shimon used to say to his friends who gathered at his house on that night, Let us repair (לתקן) the bridal jewelry so she can be appear tomorrow with her jewelry which has been repaired as is proper, with the Almighty. Book of Zohar, Vayikra, Parashat Emor [Folio 88a]. What connections exist on the night of Shavuot according to the Zohar? 2. How is a Tikkun created? Study Order The order of study on this night is: Torah, Prophets, and Ktuvim, followed by Midrash, followed by Idra Rabba. The Holy Zohar says a person should Labor in Torah, from Torah to Prophets, Prophets to Ktuvim, and the homelitical interpretations of the verses and secrets of wisdom, They should learn the 613 mitzvot before learning Midrash and if they have time they should learn the Idra Zuta. We know that Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulai ( the HYD A ) was accustomed to learning the two Idras even when he was old Blessed is he and blessed is his portion. Rabbi Yosef Chaim, The Ben Ish Chai, Halachot of the First Year, Parashat Bamidbar, D, Jerusalem: Salah Yakov Mansour, 5717.

3 Glossary: The Ben Ish Chai, Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad ( , ) one of the greatest Achronim, an adjudicator (posek), Kabbalist, liturgical poet, exegesist, and leader. His most famous book is Ben Ish Chai The Son of Man (who) Lives, by whose title he is also known. The book is a collection of halachic rulings which he gave every Shabbat with reference to the weekly Torah portion. Idra Rabba and Idra Zuta (The Greater Assembly and the Lesser Assembly) two texts from the Zohar that differ slightly from the rest of the book. In the Idra Rabba Greater Assembly, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai reveals the deity in the form of the human face. Ten scholars expound their homiletic interpretations each in his turn. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai concludes the discussion. The Idra Zuta Lesser Assembly recounts the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who imparts secrets to his disciples which he had previously been afraid to reveal. Rabbi Shimon s soul departs on the word 'Life'. Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulai. Born in Hebron, died in Italy. Shaliah De rrabanan rabbinic messenger to many countries. Wrote over one hundred books on all areas of Judaism. Study Method And only because it is good and proper to feel the words of our teachers, it is customary to study the Tikkun in a group or congregation. And if the majority of the public reads the Tikkun it is improper for individuals to separate themselves from them, and learn Talmud or Rambam. As our sages say (Tractate Derech Eretz Zuta, Ch. 5): "No one shall stand when others are seated or sit when others are standing, and they should not read the Bible when others are reading from the Mishna, and they should not read the Mishna if others are reading Bible. In short, a person should not deviate from the custom of his fellows. And The Holy One Blessed Be He will not withhold good from the faithful. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, She'elot U'Teshuvot Yechave Daat, Jerusalem, 3:32 According to the tradition of the Ari, what and how should people learn on Shavuot night? How does learning this subject matter in the order of study prescribed bring about Tikkun?

4 Educational Benefits of Learning According to the banking concept of education knowledge is a gift from those who think they know to those who are perceived as knowing nothing. Projecting total ignorance onto others which typifies the ideology of oppression, negates education and knowledge as processes of research. The teacher puts himself forward as the necessary contrast to the students; by assuming their ignorance to be absolute he justifies his very existence... The teacher teaches and the students learn. The teacher knows everything, the students know nothing... The teacher speaks and the students listen obediently... The more completely the students accept the passive role imposed upon them, the more they tend to adjust to the world as it is... The ability of banking education to reduce or eliminate the students' creative powers and to nurture their faith in everything serves the interests of the oppressors who are not interested in the world being seen or for change to happen... Dialogue is a meeting between people who are connected by words in order to give the world a name. Therefore there cannot be dialogue between those who desire to call the world by name and those with no such desire between those who deny the right of others to have their say and the ones deprived of that right. Those who have been deprived of their prime right to have their say must first declare this right and prevent all further aggression that denies them their humanity. If by having their say people change the world by calling it by name, then dialogue is the way that people achieve meaning as people. So dialogue is a necessity of existence and because dialogue is a meeting in which the ideas and actions of its participants are consolidated into a single entity that is oriented toward the world that must be changed and made more humanitarian then it cannot be reduced to the level of the actions of one person who deposits ideas into the brain of another... Dialogue cannot exist without humility. Calling the world by name, an act whereby creative people constantly create the world, cannot be an act of arrogance. Dialogue is an encounter between people devoted to the joint mission of learning and taking action and that dialogue is interrupted if the participants, or one of them, is lacking humility. How can I enter a dialogue if I constantly radiate arrogance towards others and do not accept that I am arrogant?... Here no one is completely ignorant and no scholars are perfect; there are only people trying to extend the range of their knowledge together. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Mifras Publications 1981: pp , What is the banking system of education? Why is this system dangerous? What is the dialogue method of education? Why is it positive? Which of Freire s principles are found in Tikkun Leil Shavuot according to Ben Ish Chai and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef?

5 3. What are we repairing? Even Shushan Dictionary Definition of Tikkun: 1. Fix or mend that which is damaged, restoring an item to its proper state. 2. A change for the better, enhancement. In your opinion which definition fits the idea of Tikkun Shavuot best? What concrete actions does each definition require? What social change would you like to begin? How can the principles we learned in the session contribute to the repair?