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Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Rarely does a book come along that tackles a perennially difficult human issue with such clarity and intelligence. Harold Kushner, a Jewish rabbi facing his own child's fatal illness, deftly guides us through the inadequacies of the traditional answers to the problem of evil, then provides a uniquely practical and compassionate answer that has appealed to millions of readers across all religious creeds. Remarkable for its intensely relevant real-life examples and its fluid prose, this book cannot go unread by anyone who has ever been troubled by the question, "Why me?" From Publishers Weekly When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this book features Rabbi Kushner's perspective on how people can better deal with evil that enters their lives. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.Book Description For anyone who has ever been hurt by life. "I knew that one day I would write this book. I would write it out of my own need to put into words some of the most important things I have come to believe and know. And I would write it to help other people who might one day find themselves in a similar predicament. I would write it for an those people who wanted to go on believing, but whose anger at God made it hard for them to hold on to their faith and be comforted by religion. And I would write it for an those people whose love of God and devotion to Him led them to blame themselves for their suffering and persuade themselves that they deserved it." -- Harold S. Kushner
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
this book suggests how to survive emotionally, once the shock wears off. Most of us are guilty of speaking the typical funeral platitudes which we have heard many times over--in life, on TV and in the movies and books. These are the times that try not only men's souls, but also seem to test our faith. Will this psychological pressure cause us to be crushed by grief and despair, or will it change us into rough diamonds? Kushner has walked down this agonizing road himself; now he shares his insight with all who mourn, regardless of religious persuasion. He assures us that it Is possible to retain belief in a God who "allows" these tragedies to happen. Hopefullyl we will mature spiritually into people of greater compassion than we would have ever expected possible. No book can bring back the deceased, but This one makes it easier to accept the loss, by urging us to honor the beloved, instead of indulging in guilt
5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
How dare this man of God minimize the loss of my son. I belong to a baby loss support group and I definitely can say the losses we experience are overwhelming. It astounds me that a man who lost a child himself could show such little compassion. Instead of making me want to recommend this book to other bereaved parents, it made me truly sorry for any parents experiencing neonatal death who are members of his parish.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
I'm going to respond to the review entitled "There are better choices to understand the mind of God..." and hopefully, in the process, provide a better picture of what the book is and isn't: First of all, I'm not sure that the analogy the reviewer makes about Christ being both God and human (therefore God can be both completely powerful and completely loving) makes sense in this context. Kushner is Jewish, and while his book is pretty universal (he is writing for a mixed audience and so assumes little about his readers' beliefs beyond their belief in God), the fact remains that he is writing from within the Jewish tradition, and he makes no attempt to disguise the fact. Jesus is more or less irrelevant to him. Judaism presupposes an absolute cleavage between man and God: man cannot become God (ala Hercules) and God does not become man (ala Jesus or Dionysus). Both are originally pagan concepts. So I think the argument is a little out of place in a review of this book. Second, your assertion that God is both all-powerful and all-loving is addressed in the book, and found wanting. Simply saying, in essence, "Kushner is wrong, God can be both," does not explain why one should accept your unsupported assertion over his argument. Third, the book you recommend does not address the same issues as this one and is therefore not a good suggestion for substitution. It may be a perfectly good book for Christian readers, but suggesting it here is like suggesting a book on yoga to someone who's looking for information on nutrition. There's a little overlap, but it's not going to answer most of the person's questions. Finally, perhaps some of the reason for your disappointment is suggested in the title of your review. Kushner isn't out to "understand the mind of God," (chas v'shalom). He quotes Job to point out that the mind of God is essentially unknowable. Kushner's purpose is to come up with a humanly acceptable answer to how a loving God can allow terrible things to happen to good people. Was this review helpful to you?  
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Kushner left a grey area in this book, though I do not find it particularly objectionable. How much you get from this book may depend on where you stand on the issue of sovereignty. Does God control everything that happens to us? Or is everything determined by free will of man? Free will, of course, is very real. It is not God that causes a bullet to kill an innocent person. The free will of the shooter allows him to fire the gun killing the innocent man. God does not intervene. If God intervened everytime an innocent person were hurt, he would be interfering with free will. Occasionally, the bullet may miraculously miss and maybe it is the work of God. God has that power. As an issue of sovereignty, it is a combination between free will and God making things happen. It is the logical explanation. Once this issue is surpassed, Kushner presents various scenarios that happen to good people. He uses the most famous story in the Bible as an example. The story of Job is the ultimate story of bad things happening to a good person. In the story, Job must get past that fact that he has not sinned to deserve this suffering. Suffering, and religion in general, is an opportunity for us to be comforted and see the good in others. When we see others suffering, it gives us the opportunity to comfort, showing our goodness. With disease, hunger, or suffering, God gives us the resources to use. Man has the free will to end suffering. The easiest way to think about the big picture is the poem title "Footprints in the Sand". The moral of the story is that God has not abandoned us in times of suffering. If we turn to Him and ask for strength to make it through, we will not disappointed. There is not one set of footprints in the sand because God abandoned us, he is carrying us through our suffering. Pain and death will not end in this world. We can never make complete sense of our suffering, but the strength can make life easier when we seek Him. Was this review helpful to you?
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Don't Blame God--or Yourself!, March 2, 2004
Author downplays certain losses., October 18, 2001
Left me wanting too much more info!!!, September 7, 2004
