I still can't cut and paste, so I'll have to rely on my own words to eulogize this extraordinary man.

His only son was stricken by one of the cruelest afflictions that can befall children - Progeria, the disease of premature aging about which I'll say no more, assuming you already know a fair amount from the media.

He managed to write a gem of a book of consolation, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People". He deals headlong with the agonizing anger and self-doubt that attack sufferers of - well, really any terrible disease or accident. It seems when terrible things happen to people (personally or observed), not only religious people but even atheists are beset by questions of agency, causality, as if there's an innate human drive to find meaning in all major events.

When the harm is to ones child, questions of blame and attribution can plague one even more personally. "How might I have avoided this calamity, what did I do wrong? Why was this terrible thing allowed to happen to my innocent child?" If such calamities can occur, it not only undermines believers' faith in a loving god, but also leaves everyone else unable to believe in anything. Meanwhile, feelings of guilt, blame and anger can be overwhelming making the pain all the worse. Did I deserve this?

Kushner's book addresses these inevitable questions managing to lessen the intolerable grief of their misfortune, by at least alleviating the emotional pain accompanying it. Written by a religious person and one who has certainly "been there" in his travail of grief, he is especially effective in providing comfort. He reaches those suffering from a tangible catastrophe, helping them make sense of the doubts and confusions that roil them.

I've given his book to several friends (even one couple I only knew of), who had been hit by some personal agony. While not reversing the course of fate, it's never failed to provide relief to the victim of what had seemed to be either cosmic injustice or punishment for their misdeeds in this life or another.

The book is IMO a great gift to humanity - a beautiful memorial to his son, and I mourn the passing of Rabbi Kushner.

I see his classic as a perfect accompaniment to Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" in helping those suffering from a sense of existential meaninglessness, especially in the context of experiencing or witnessing great pain. (Frankl is a psychiatrist whose foundational experience was surviving the Holocaust). Afterwards, he developed a school of treatment he called "logotherapy", based on his observations of the critical role in survival of maintaining a sense of meaning, as some did by luck or love. Two classics of spiritual consolation.

Very interesting. Thanks for the post.

A mensch's mensch.

I appreciated your eulogy for Rabbi Kushner. I had heard of his books but have never read them and had no idea of the backstory behind his authorship.

I looked up the NYT article on his passing and learned more about him. Now I think I may have to read some of his work.

Big Al