Tohu and Tikun

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Olam HaTohu (Hebrew: עוֹלָם הַתֹּ֫הוּ, lit. 'The World of Chaos') and Olam HaTikun (עוֹלָם הַתִקוּן "The World of Rectification") are two general stages in Jewish Kabbalah in the order of descending spiritual worlds known as "the Four Worlds". In subsequent creation, they also represent two archetypal spiritual states of being and consciousness. Their concepts derive from the new scheme of Lurianic Kabbalah by Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the father of modern Kabbalah, based on his interpretation of classic references in the Zohar.

The implications of tohu and tikkun underlie the origin of free will and the evil realm of the qlippoth caused by the "Shattering of the Vessels" (שְבִירַת הַכֵּלִים), the processes of spiritual and physical exile and redemption, the meaning of the 613 commandments, and the messianic rectification of existence.

Tikkun also means the esoteric sifting or clarification (בירור) of concealed divine sparks (ניצוצות) exiled in physical creation. This new paradigm in Kabbalah replaced the previous linear description of descent by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero with a dynamic process of spiritual enclothement, where higher souls invest inwardly in lower "vessels".

The cosmic drama of tikkun in Lurianic Kabbalah inspired the 16th-18th century popular Jewish imagination, explaining contemporary oppression and supporting messiah claimants, but the most important tikkun is to have peace and order in Creation. The revivalist Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards, internalised esoteric Lurianism through its own concern with experiencing divine omnipresence amidst daily material life.

The terminology of the modern ideal of tikkun olam "repairing the world" is taken from the Lurianic concept, but applied more widely to ethical activism and justice in contemporary society.