The Tikkun Olam Commission (TOC) is a left-of-center advocacy coordination organization aligned with the Reconstructionist Jewish movement. Founded in April 2018, the commission works to promote activism related to race, immigration, and environmentalism by its members and by sympathetic left-leaning congregations; since 2020, it has focused primarily on racial issues.

The TOC frequently attempts to apply Jewish theological concepts in service of left-wing political causes, from including tikkun olam (repairing the world) in its name to demanding that American society engage in teshuvah (repentance) as part of a reparations program for Black Americans. The institutions formally backing the TOC are the Reconstructing Judaism national organization and the affiliated Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. ¹

Background

Reconstructionist or Reconstructing Judaism is a politically and theologically liberal Jewish denomination which has some commonality with the Reform Jewish movement, represented in the United States by organizations such as the Union for Reform Judaism. The intellectual father of the denomination was Mordecai Kaplan, a rabbi ordained in the Orthodox tradition who went on to teach at the less traditionalist Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary and eventually drifted even further away from historical Jewish practice. ²

A core concept of Reconstructionism is that the rituals and restrictions found in Jewish scriptures are not binding commandments but rather customs adopted for a particular time and set of circumstances. The movement pioneered the ordination of gay rabbis and the blessing of same-sex unions. It also popularized the now common bat mitzvah celebration for girls as a counterpart to the bar mitzvah which marks the transition into adulthood for teenage Jewish boys. ³

Today, Reconstructionism in America is represented by groups such as the Reconstructing Judaism congregational network and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. ^{5 6}

Initiatives

While the Tikkun Olam Commission was only officially launched in April 2018, the Reconstructing Judaism national organization had been engaged in left-of-center political activism justified by its view of tikkun olam for some time prior. In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, the organization called for increased admission of border crossers claiming to be refugees into the United States. It also criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential and controversial Israel-related foreign-policy lobbying group, for inviting then-candidate Donald Trump to speak. The organization went on to attack the Trump administration for withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accords and for considering cuts to American taxpayer-funded foreign aid. Under the Biden administration, the organization extended its tikkun olam activism to include calls for funding abortion access in foreign countries. ^{7 8}

In March 2022, the TOC introduced a draft resolution to the organization which called for society-wide wealth redistribution to Black Americans as “reparations” for the allegedly enduring effects of slavery and segregation, as well as for perceived modern-day slights. The version of the resolution which was ultimately adopted included a claim that “Jewish teachings” required American society to “atone” for past and supposedly continuing offenses. The resolution also urged Congress to establish a committee to develop proposals for implementing reparations. ⁹

Leadership

Micah Weiss was selected to oversee the Tikkun Olam Commission in 2019. A Reconstructionist rabbi, Weiss previously volunteered with the left-wing American Jewish World Service and designed an activism training curriculum for another left-of-center Jewish repairing the world-oriented group. He majored in religious and African American studies at Wesleyan University. ^{10 11}

Shahanna McKinney-Baldon is the lay chairperson of the TOC. ¹² She has been at the forefront of efforts to advance left-of-center perspectives on race within Jewish communities. ¹³

Financials

Tikkun Olam Commission’s parent group, Reconstructing Judaism, had assets of $5,247,584 in 2022. Its expenses totaled $5,537,906, and its revenue was $6,182,251. One of its top six donors that year was the federal National Endowment for the Humanities, which gave at least $100,000 to the organization. ¹⁴

1. “Mandate for Tikkun Olam Commission.” Reconstructing Judaism. October 12, 2020. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/mandate-tikkun-olam-commission/
2. “What Is Reconstructionist Judaism?” My Jewish Learning. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/reconstructionist-judaism-today/
3. What Is Reconstructionist Judaism?” My Jewish Learning. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/reconstructionist-judaism-today/
5. “Mandate for Tikkun Olam Commission.” Reconstructing Judaism. October 12, 2020. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/mandate-tikkun-olam-commission/[/note[

   Tikkun Olam

   The Rabbinical Jewish concept of repairing the world, variations of which also appear in late medieval Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), has been interpreted in a broad variety of ways by different movements within Judaism over the centuries. In modern times, the term has been picked up by many theologically liberal and politically left-of-center Jewish societal influencers as a justification or even a religious mandate to promote a particular vision of social progress. This has prompted criticism from within the Jewish world: some observers have argued that left-leaning Jews have distorted and stretched the meaning of the concept to support their personal causes while disregarding observance of Jewish religious and moral laws. ⁴ Michael Friedland. “Tikkun Olam: Good or Bad for the Jews?” Sinai Synagogue. September 19, 2018. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.sinaisynagogue.org/sermons/2018/9/24/yom-kippur-5779-tikkun-olam-good-or-bad-for-the-jews

6. Y.A. Korff. “The fallacy, delusion and myth of Tikkun Olam.” Jewish News Service. June 3, 2013. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.jns.org/the-fallacy-delusion-and-myth-of-tikkun-olam/
7. “News – Page 1.” Reconstructing Judaism. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/topic/tikkun-olam/
8. “News – Page 2.” Reconstructing Judaism. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/topic/tikkun-olam/page/2/
9. “Reconstructionist Movement Calls for Reparations and Teshuvah.” Reconstructing Judaism. January 22, 2023. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/news/reconstructionist-movement-calls-for-reparations-and-teshuvah/
10. “Mandate for Tikkun Olam Commission.” Reconstructing Judaism. October 12, 2020. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/mandate-tikkun-olam-commission/
11. “Rabbi Micah Geurin Weiss.” Reconstructing Judaism. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/profile/rabbi-micah-geurin-weiss/
12. “Leadership.” Reconstructing Judaism. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/leadership/
13. Shahanna McKinney-Baldon. “This Jewish New Year, Let’s Account for Racial Injustices In Our Own Communities.” Hey Alma. September 10, 2020. Accessed September 12, 2023. https://www.heyalma.com/this-jewish-new-year-lets-account-for-racial-injustices-in-our-own-communities/
14. “Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report,” Reconstructing Judaism. Accessed September 13, 2023. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/annual-reports/fy2022-annual-report/