Direct from Copenhagen, Denmark - 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference - (8 – 18 December '09)

Acting as the official High Tide COP15 envoy, distinguished ecological artist Aviva Rahmani will be immersing herself in the burgeoning eco-political activism in the city and sharing her experiences with us via this daily blog.

Why not get involved and join in dialogue with her? Log-on to share your views! This is the gathering storm…

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Monday 7 December 2009

Guest Post from Shai Zakai, Director & Founder, Israeli Forum for Ecological Art

The following post about Tikkun, came in as I was sitting down at the Plenary. I thought it a useful mediation for the goals of the conference:

Tikkun is an optimistic word, it means that you can fix what is not functioning right. that it is fixable. Tikkun Olam on the other hand is more abstract, because how can you repair a whole world. ( Olam=world).
Judaism has adoptted the concept of Tikkun, in the spiritual level, to convey the message that human can always make Teshuva from their bad behaviors.
Every act we do on this planet begins with a lack of something- we eat because we are hungry, we sleep cause we are tired.. Does Tikkun needs to be better than the situation before? or exactly identical to the situation before it was spoiled?, the Gmara talks about it a lot. One of the ideas is that tikkun is a state of mind. the desire for better, while knowing that it is merely an essential part of the world which refine it and brings fragrance into it. I think of eco-art now, after 15 years of work, merely that.

The Tikkun is a force within us.
we can choose to develop it and be the person who can repair..
Try to think of the Tikkun not only as an act directed towards something that has happened in the past which needs Tikkun, but as a present, continuous situation.
The world according to the bible was created with faults; the flood, adam's sin, the snake, Hava. in its foundation, the world is not complete right from the beginning.
People are born with faults as well. if the world was perfect, there would not have been a place for Tikkun.

This is our place in world, otherwise we would not have a place in this world. All ideas for improvements is what makes the world a better place, and create the biggest changes. The Gmara talks about the idea that ideal state where everything is perfect does not exist in this world, what does exist , is a strong will to do the Tikkun, walk in the path of tikkun, as an essential part of this world. The trees are doing Tikkun every fall. i wish i could do the same. The idea that the creation is happening every day, and is not history, is essential to the idea of Tikkun.

The unfinished creation gives us the hope to v\create a Tikkun always. We can actually start fresh every day.
it is in a physical and spiritual level as well.
If our being is in a state of Tikkun, everyday, thousands of doors are opened before us, for better worlds. May-be one day i will enter in one of them, or create a door for someone else.

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