Tikkun Gives a Jewish Treatment to the Korean Spa

Jewish Journal, July 8, 2009

Tikkun Holistic Spa is probably one of the few Korean spas in the Los Angeles area where the receptionist greets clients without a Korean accent. Founder Niki Schwarz wanted to make sure non-Koreans who walk through the door (after taking an elevator to the basement) encounter no struggle in their quest for the perfect day of rest.

Jews especially. They’ve struggled enough. And sometimes their ritual day of rest, Shabbat, may not suffice to rejuvenate their performance of Judaism’s greatest mitzvah: tikkun olam, repairing the world.

Tikkun, which opened in May on the grounds of a former Burke Williams Spa in Santa Monica, approaches massages, body scrubs and detoxification treatments like they’re sacred commandments. According to Schwarz, a Korean American who converted to Judaism, Jews and non-Jews alike cannot heal the world if they don’t heal themselves.

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