Review Detail

“One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story” by Ruth Spiro, illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov, tells how people need to work together in order to find ways to help each other and the world around us. One poignant line in the story reads: “One person can’t do everything, but everyone can do one thing.” The truth behind this phrase is profound. Tikkun olam means to repair the world, and this takes understanding, compassion, and courtesy. It takes imagination, practice, and strength.

People need to be able to find the balance that makes them conscious of helping others and worthy of being helped back. Everyone deserves a chance to create this balance and find the truth of how they can repair the world and leave it a little better, a little brighter, than before.

Another great line reads: “Your action today changes everything tomorrow.” More people need to live by words like these so that the world can truly become a better, brighter, more peaceful place.

The author’s note in the final pages of the book shares how the concept of tikkun olam is not unique to Judaism, though the book is presented from a Jewish perspective. Everyone, no matter their religion, race, or otherwise, is capable of tikkun olam. It only has to be accessed within ourselves.