Review of 'When bad things happen to good people' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I borrowed this book from a friend, she seemed to think I would enjoy it, and I really did. I enjoyed this book dearly but I have a lot of feelings about it.
I found the book extremely insightful and enjoyed the emotion that Rabbi Kushner managed to pack into such a small book.
Second off though, this book is written by a rabbi. Remember this. The book goes into detail on Judaism and attempts to deal with the title's question from a Jewish perspective. I don't think that it's bad for a non-Jewish person to read this (it's a good book! anyone can read it!) but just be prepared to face that this comes a from a Jewish perspective. Reading some previous reviews some reviewers don't seem to understand this. Judaism is a completely different religion, culture and even identity compared to Christianity. I'd say that someone who is …
I borrowed this book from a friend, she seemed to think I would enjoy it, and I really did. I enjoyed this book dearly but I have a lot of feelings about it.
I found the book extremely insightful and enjoyed the emotion that Rabbi Kushner managed to pack into such a small book.
Second off though, this book is written by a rabbi. Remember this. The book goes into detail on Judaism and attempts to deal with the title's question from a Jewish perspective. I don't think that it's bad for a non-Jewish person to read this (it's a good book! anyone can read it!) but just be prepared to face that this comes a from a Jewish perspective. Reading some previous reviews some reviewers don't seem to understand this. Judaism is a completely different religion, culture and even identity compared to Christianity. I'd say that someone who is curious in learning more about the current Jewish contemporary view on death should probably pick this book up.
Review of 'When bad things happen to good people' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
I borrowed this book from a friend, she seemed to think I would enjoy it, and I really did. I enjoyed this book dearly but I have a lot of feelings about it.
I found the book extremely insightful and enjoyed the emotion that Rabbi Kushner managed to pack into such a small book.
Second off though, this book is written by a rabbi. Remember this. The book goes into detail on Judaism and attempts to deal with the title's question from a Jewish perspective. I don't think that it's bad for a non-Jewish person to read this (it's a good book! anyone can read it!) but just be prepared to face that this comes a from a Jewish perspective. Reading some previous reviews some reviewers don't seem to understand this. Judaism is a completely different religion, culture and even identity compared to Christianity. I'd say that someone who is …
I borrowed this book from a friend, she seemed to think I would enjoy it, and I really did. I enjoyed this book dearly but I have a lot of feelings about it.
I found the book extremely insightful and enjoyed the emotion that Rabbi Kushner managed to pack into such a small book.
Second off though, this book is written by a rabbi. Remember this. The book goes into detail on Judaism and attempts to deal with the title's question from a Jewish perspective. I don't think that it's bad for a non-Jewish person to read this (it's a good book! anyone can read it!) but just be prepared to face that this comes a from a Jewish perspective. Reading some previous reviews some reviewers don't seem to understand this. Judaism is a completely different religion, culture and even identity compared to Christianity. I'd say that someone who is curious in learning more about the current Jewish contemporary view on death should probably pick this book up.
Review of 'When bad things happen to good people' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Why does God permit evil? Why do bad things happen to good people. If there is a God why is their undue pain and suffering?
Man has struggled with these questions for millennia, and in this struggle religion has often fallen short of satisfactory answers. Ultimately, each man must wrestle with these questions. Questions that cut straight to understanding and knowing God — if that’s even possible.
Understanding that these timeless questions, which cut across religious and cultural lines, have no easy answer, no simplistic saying, is how you must begin to read Job, then comes careful reading followed by thoughtful reflection. Consulting some commentaries and secondary sources may be unfulfilling, but ultimately Job offers the answer man has been searching for so long.
Critical to a fresh and studied reading of the Book of Job, is Rabbi Harold Kushner’s The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a …
Why does God permit evil? Why do bad things happen to good people. If there is a God why is their undue pain and suffering?
Man has struggled with these questions for millennia, and in this struggle religion has often fallen short of satisfactory answers. Ultimately, each man must wrestle with these questions. Questions that cut straight to understanding and knowing God — if that’s even possible.
Understanding that these timeless questions, which cut across religious and cultural lines, have no easy answer, no simplistic saying, is how you must begin to read Job, then comes careful reading followed by thoughtful reflection. Consulting some commentaries and secondary sources may be unfulfilling, but ultimately Job offers the answer man has been searching for so long.
Critical to a fresh and studied reading of the Book of Job, is Rabbi Harold Kushner’s The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a good person. Rabbi Kushner provides a clear and informed outline for reading Job as well as other perspectives before providing his own take. This guide to Job proves indispensable. At the end, Rabbi Kushner teaches the mythic creatures Behemoth and Leviathan provide the key to understanding Job. While the most widely applicable book in the Bible, Job is also the most widely misunderstood. Here are just some common unsatisfying interpretations of Job and why bad things happen to good people: 1) All men sin, so God punishes them 2) It’s impossible to us to understand God 3) God punishes us, because he needs us to show him love 4) God punishes us to make us stronger 5) God is compassionate, but limited 6) The Devil made it happen All those interpretations could be given by a mere summary reading or not reading the Book of Job at all and since every book in the Bible has a purpose, sacred scripture does not waste text, Job must have something more to teach us.
Holy Scripture does not waste, while God’s second address goes on about the grandeur of his power and the awesomeness of nature, it is not the same as first. The second address focuses on two creations, instead listing thorough God’s manifold glory. The second address centers on Behemoth and Leviathan.
Rabbi Kushner allegories these mythic creatures to bigger forces: the drive to acquire and force of nature. Leviathan brings down the proud, like the rich fool who tore down his barns to build bigger ones, only to die that night (LK 12:20). Like Behemoth, we can not tame him, go near Leviathan once and you’ll never do it again. We’ve built all types of defenses and plans against nature or chance, and so often — the best laid plans of man go to waste. Leviathan can simply be a crocodile, a remnant of the dinosaur age. Yet, this too is more. It is wild and unpredicable like the sea and the sea monsters created by God in Genesis. Leviathan stands for another force, the force of nature, perhaps the force of chance or chaos. This more difficult to recognize than the alpha male behemoth. Job’s children were killed by a wind, his chattel by fire — a force of nature or chance. There are natural disasters in the world, we cannot stop them. The righteous fall victim to them the same as the wicked.
With Behemoth in chapter 40 God is a describing a hippopotamus, but his is one of the most sexual descriptions in all of the bible — surely behemoth represents much more than a hippo. The allusion to the tail is a euphemism for the male genitalia and the sinews of his stones, his lions, represent the male reproductive system. Yet, there is more to behemoth than sex. Like an alpha wolf or male, the masculine, the will to power goes beyond intercourse. It extends to acquiring — material items, food, and dominion. His food comes to him, with his appetite he can consume the whole Jordan. Behemoth takes what he pleases. Behemoth is raw power — his bones are brass and iron.
Understanding Job and spiritual development goes hand-in-hand. Job’s message isn’t a Linus blanket or a blue pill. It is reassurance. Reassurance in all an powerful God and in our struggle with our selves. Our selves contain all three of those forces — man, sexuality, and nature as does the external world. Can we hope to master them, hope to contain them, or should we just bow down before God acknowledging our wretchedness?
