Rating: 
Summary: A promising premise, but a disappointing outcome.
Review: I have read other books by Kushner and I admire him as a caring pastor and knowledgeable theologian. I was intrigued by this title and hoped to gain some valuable insight from the book, some lesson I could walk away with, feeling better equipped to deal with the danger and seeming unfairness that is so much a part of life today. Kushner asks all the "right" questions, the questions that most people, worried, frightened, and in highly stressful situations would demand answers to. But his position, that ill befalls people simply out of bad luck, of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time," falls short of satisfying. And his contention that God is powerless to intervene in the acts of evil perpetrated by some of His children is disheartening, to say the least.The book does reassure that God is always there to provide comfort and strength, but this part of the message is outweighed by the unsettling notion of God's impotence against much of what causes our suffering today.
Rating: 
Summary: INSPIRING!!! EYE-OPENING!!! INSIGHTFUL!!!
Review: I just finished reading this book by Rabbi Kushner. It was an easy book to read and understand. I recently experienced the loss of my beloved brother. He was 36 years old and a murder victim. I am a practicing Catholic and I never questioned God. However, I found myself wondering why this had to happen to us. My brother was just an innocent bystander. A victim of being at that wrong place at the wrong time. Rabbi Kushner's book opened my eyes. His book offered me comfort and let me understand my faith a little better. I highly recommend this book to all who question God. If you find yourself asking, "How could there be a God when bad things happen to good people?" get this book ASAP!! Rabbi Kushner offers a logical and intelligent answer to this question. He makes sense. If you think you are not a religious person this book will change that. I am passing this book onto my mother. I know this will bring her comfort. Thank you Rabbi Kushner for this wonderful insightful book. It has helped me with my grieving! GOD BLESS YOU!!
Rating:
Summary: A must read when searching for God after a loss.
Review: After the recent loss of my infant daughter, I was searching for answers and trying hard to stay connected to God and continue to believe in Him. Being faced with the death of an otherwise perfectly healthy baby it was very difficult to believe that 1. God is a good, loving God.
2. God is a just/fair God.
3. God controls everything. How could God be fair and good when he would take the life of an innocent child? Why, if God controls everything, and is good, would he not spare this precious life? Why, if God is fair, would he "punish" this little girl with months of pain and suffering before her ultimate death? For anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, particularly a child, this is a powerful book. Rabbit Kushner has addressed these painful questions with clarity and love for God. He uses the bible to back up his analysis and tells his story in a manner that everyone can understand. He also speaks to the horrible things that so many people, who think they are helping, say to those who have lost a loved one. What matters is not so much if one agrees with Rabbi Kushner's analysis, it matters that he puts forth a way to stay close to God while working through your grief. At this time, I choose to agree with Rabbi Kushner's analysis. For all those who wish to tell me it is incorrect, I know they do not have my best interest at heart. Staying close and connected to God and not turning from him must be my goal. If I cannot at this time reconcile what I thought to be true with my reality, and it causes me to turn away from God or question God, nothing else matters. Anything that can help me continue love and give praise to God while I continue to work through my grief is valuable. I commend Rabbi Kushner and consider this book a must read for anyone who has suffered a loss.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully-written perspective on God, life and suffering
Review: In a time when so many people are striving for an explanation of why their lives turn out a certain way, or why things (good or bad) happen to them, the expressions "it's all part of God's plan," "everything happens for the best," or "it just wasn't meant to be," and so on, have became a little tiresome. In "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," Rabbi Harold S. Kushner offers a refreshing point of view that differs from those who think everything occurs on earth because God wants it that way, and at the same time provides a surprising comfort in the fact that events actually can, and do, take place for no reason at all. I read the original version of this book in the early 80's (several times since), and what struck me was that Rabbi Kushner was able to reconcile a common Judeo-Christian view of God and causality with a perspective of life that holds a place for randomness and happenstance. Yes! Things happen in life that God has nothing to do with, and there is a way to find peace in accepting this. For those who enjoy contemplating and discussing the purpose of life, faith, and good & bad, you MUST read this book . . . then set aside some more time for thought and conversation. If you've ever experienced the untimely loss of a loved one, or been through any traumatizing life experience, get this book. It is personal, thought-provoking, well-written, and very easy to understand. I am certain you will find comfort. If you're just simply interested in learing about God and the meaning of things in your life from a wonderful man and a great writer, get this book. Without intending to write a best-seller (read his Preface), Rabbi Kushner was able to put into words what I had been trying to figure out (despite loads of "help" from others) concerning God, how we should relate to Him, and what to do about all the things that happen to us during our lives. This book is important; I give it my highest recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: An honest, probing Reconstructionist examination.
Review: Rabbi Harold Kushner takes a hard look at difficult issues in "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." Written out of his own personal grief and struggle with spirituality, this book is an important and groundbreaking reassessment of what it means to believe in a god and how to reconcile that belief to the cold fact that horrible things happen in this world on a daily basis. This is the fundamental tension of religion, and Kushner approaches it from an original and profound perspective. Kushner is a Reconstructionist Jew and a former student of Reconstructionism's founder, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. Reconstructionist Judaism examines spirituality from a metaphorical perspective, seeing God as the impulse in us that brings out our best traits and leads to live honestly and ethically. It does not see God as an all-powerful father figure in the sky, interfering in people's lives and letting things like the Holocaust happen for a "reason." It is, in other words, a religious worldview that takes a more mature, probing approach to divinity than the standard "God controls everything and we cannot understand His ways" religious line. There are numerous precedents for the Reconstructionist view in Jewish history. Thus the negative reviews here from fundamentalist Christians, who believe every word of the Bible literally (though they can't be bothered to actually read it) and are unable to consider the thought of a more abstract god because their entire intellectual and spiritual house of cards would collapse. This sort of "God-is-my-protective-daddy" view inevitably forces people of this mindset into a state of denial, obfuscation, and pretzel logic when they try to explain or defend their faith--even to themselves. "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" is an enormously powerful book which offers a vital glimpse into a more humane and compassionate view of God. I recommend it to everybody.
Rating: 
Summary: A sincere and thoughtful book
Review: I must admit, I have not read this book yet, but aim to do so. I heard Mr. Kushner speak about his book on the God Squad and the message of his book .I found it extremely sincere and thoughtful. I think this book would put many people at rest with some of their un-answered question.
Rating:
Summary: Good People Turn to be Better humans Indeed!
Review: Harold Kushner's book has an insight for a heart touching, warming feeling for those who got to be content with Suffering. Some of the other time in life, we suffer. Why do we have to suffer? Why do Bad things Happen? Why Me? These and many questions surface our minds and that's when our 'Faith' is challenged. Why do we turn to the same God who makes it happen? The author came to see god when he faced the worst trials in his life of having lost his son Aaron when he was fourteen. God weeps with us and would not abandon us and can fill the deepest needs of an anguished heart says Harold. The story of job inspires and builds the strength and courage. Harold provides invaluable reassurances and his words are source of comfort in times of bad things happening just out of the blue. His logic that when bad things happen we dump our anger on others or turn it on ourselves. Sometimes angry on God. Why me? And then referring to Cain killing his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy...all through Harold soothes the mind to relax and be at peace saying 'God can't do everything, but he can do some important things' This ticks the mind Fate, not god, sends us the problem. If we are weak, we get angry, overwhelmed. Its faith strong all the way and God rewards in his own fashion; Knows much better what he has to do. A must book to be read by all people in trouble, no matter what their religios faith. Indeed, When Bad things happen, be positive, What happens, happens for good. Good People turn to be Better.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully-written perspective on God, life and suffering
Review: In a time when so many people are striving for an explanation of why their lives turn out a certain way, or why things (good or bad) happen to them, the expressions "it's all part of God's plan," "everything happens for the best," or "it just wasn't meant to be," and so on, have became a little tiresome. In "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," Rabbi Harold S. Kushner offers a refreshing point of view that differs from those who think everything occurs on earth because God wants it that way, and at the same time provides a surprising comfort in the fact that events actually can, and do, take place for no reason at all. I read the original version of this book in the early 80's (several times since), and what struck me was that Rabbi Kushner was able to reconcile a common Judeo-Christian view of God and causality with a perspective of life that holds a place for randomness and happenstance. Yes! Things happen in life that God has nothing to do with, and there is a way to find peace in accepting this. For those who enjoy contemplating and discussing the purpose of life, faith, and good & bad, you MUST read this book . . . then set aside some more time for thought and conversation. If you've ever experienced the untimely loss of a loved one, or been through any traumatizing life experience, get this book. It is personal, thought-provoking, well-written, and very easy to understand. I am certain you will find comfort. If you're just simply interested in learing about God and the meaning of things in your life from a wonderful man and a great writer, get this book. Without intending to write a best-seller (read his Preface), Rabbi Kushner was able to put into words what I had been trying to figure out (despite loads of "help" from others) concerning God, how we should relate to Him, and what to do about all the things that happen to us during our lives. This book is important; I give it my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Blame God--or Yourself!
Review: This gem of a self-help book offers real comfort for those who are wrestling with the eternal dilemma of why disasters--especially the death of a loved one--happen. Sincerely humane
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
or misdirecting our anger. Take heart--be true to the memories of those who now live only in your heart.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most profound books I've ever read
Review: Rabbi Kushner's relections on the existence of evil and the goodness of God was of great help in coming to grips with the loss of our son and our anger at God. This is a book for everyone, but especially for those bearing grief.
| 
