In Jewish Prayer
The phrase tikkun olam is included in the Aleinu, a Jewish prayer that is traditionally recited three times daily. The Aleinu, said to have been written by the Biblical Joshua, praises God for allowing the Jewish people to serve God, and expresses hope that the whole world one day will recognize God and abandon idolatry. The phrase tikkun olam is used in the longer expression l'takken olam b'malkhut Shaddai, "to perfect the world under God's sovereignty." In other words, when all people of the world abandon false gods and recognize God, the world will have been perfected. Alternatively, being that we share a partnership with God, humanity is instructed to take the steps towards improving the state of the world and helping others, which simultaneously brings more honor to God's sovereignty.
The word tikkun is grammatically in the gerund (meaning "repair" or "perfection"), and olam means "world"; the two words together (tikkun olam) are in the construct (i.e. genitive), and mean "repair of world". By contrast, the word l'takken (meaning "to repair") is in the infinitive, and so l'takken olam in the Aleinu prayer means "to repair world."
Some scholars suggest there to be no correlation between the wording of the prayer and the concept of tikkun olam per Hebrew grammar and original manuscripts .
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