I was looking at that translation the other day, since I'd heard that quote many times and it came to my mind as well, but I'd never actually read the Pirkei Avot. I think it's pretty clear in context that Tarfon's not talking about tikkun olam, but about learning Torah. I find it really interesting that I'd also always heard the quote as about tikkum olam, though did not then do the reading to find out how that swap happened historically. I sort of think our ancestors would have thought that all in devotion to Torah would be a healed world.

But I think it's interesting to imagine a Judaism where we have finished this swap, where we are not the people of the Torah, but the people of tikkun olam. And I think in some ways that transition is happening, at least in the progressive circles I move in.