How to Make the World Beautiful: Jewish Views on Medicine as Way to Improve the World

According to Jewish thought, God intentionally left “space” in the universe for improvement, entrusting humans with the task of enhancing reality. In Judaism, this idea is known as Tikkun Olam, which translates from Hebrew as “repairing the world.” Improvement is seen as achievable primarily through meticulous and universal fulfillment of God's will as outlined in the Torah in the form of commandments. In addition, today Judaism includes in the scope of Tikkun Olam various actions that contribute to the improvement of the life of human society and the life of each individual person. In particular, Jewish philosophers, scientists, and doctors increasingly view medicine (including the development of biomedical technologies) as one of the ways to “perfect the world.” Modern Judaism evaluates medical activity as a contribution to fulfilling the task of “healing the world” entrusted to humans by God. Medicine strives to overcome suffering and death, guided by the idea of mercy, thereby perfecting the world created by God. The range of opinions regarding the relevance of biomedical technologies to the idea of Tikkun Olam is wide and depends on the willingness of different Jewish groups to accept the achievements of modern culture. Overall, even within Orthodox Judaism, the prevailing opinion is that the reasonable use of modern medical technologies changes the world for the better.