"To appreciate the central function that humans perform according to Kabbalah, one must first recall the Kabbalistic idea of the breaking of the vessels: The present state of the universe represents imperfection, a defect, a loss of harmony. The original perfection of existence was fractured at creation, leaving broken shards that make our particular universe and its components, including evil, possible. But humans, being a part of the universe that is aware and that can act on that awareness, can thus, by their thoughts and actions, participate in the course that the universe takes. In Kabbalah the task of humans in this world is to do this: to restore the universe to the original harmony that was lost with the breaking of the vessels. This is called in Hebrew tikkun, a term whose range of meaning includes restoration, restitution, reintegration, mending."