Heithaus Haven and Tikkun Olam

Heithaus Haven and Tikkun Olam

Bob Cropf 

My thanks to Harold and Ken for getting us started with their inaugural essays on the purpose and meaning of Heithaus Haven. In this brief essay, I want to riff off their notions of “haven” and “shalom.” I think they are onto something that is central to the new endeavor that we are launching with this blog and website.

In the Jewish community, which I have been a part of since marrying a Jew nearly 30 years ago, the two words of haven or home and shalom are inextricably linked. According to Jewish tradition, the home should be a haven or, to be more accurate, a sanctuary. Quoting Anita Diament from her classic, Living a Jewish Life, "Shalom comes from the root shalem, which means ‘complete’ or ‘whole’"(1) (her italics).  She also says the Hebrew words for the goal of a peaceful home is shalom bayit, which does not mean a quiet home but a whole one.

This last point has particular significance in light of the recent turmoil on campus. I would argue that the current disharmony, which has deprived us of our peace and quiet, is the result of many of us seeking a more whole, or holy, community. This leads us to another Hebrew term, tikkun olam, which roughly translated means "to repair the world."