The greatest gift one can give a person tormented by a life-threatening disease or intractable pain is the knowledge that his or her suffering is not meaningless nor does it occur by chance. The late Rabbi Yitzchok Kirzner, the world-renowned teacher and lecturer, confronted this dilemma during his own illness. He dug into his vast fund of knowledge, mining gems of understanding, wisdom and faith that he could pass on to others. Those gems had a special meaning for him and his listeners, because he was growing as his illness progressed. Why do people suffer? Where is Divine justice? What purpose can there be in the suffering of children? Unafraid to ask the questions that dwell in the inner recesses of our minds, Rabbi Kirzner discussed them forthrightly, with crisp honesty and intense realism, in a series of lectures. He was not overwhelmed, and he took his listeners and now his readers with him on his journey, sharing the intimate revelations of a soul that withstood all doubts and triumphed over the numbing effects of pain. Masterfully adapted for this book by noted author Yonason Rosenblum, Rabbi Kirzner’s words live on, bringing hope and serenity to those who most need to find meaning in adversity.
A very interesting read. The author is an Orthodox Rabbi and I learned several beliefs that Orthodox Jews apparently hold that surprised me (because they are not mentioned in Conservative Judaism): satan, and reincarnation of souls. Mainly what the book covers is that absolutely everything that happens is from G-d; therefore suffering is also from G-d.
The author lays that we should trust that G-d knows what it’s doing and that the suffering we experience in life is part of a larger plan: We may be suffering in order to improve our souls, as this world is a vestibule and the real life is the World To Come/Afterlife when we will have a relationship with G-d based on how well we improved our souls in this life. Or perhaps we’re being punished for the sins of our ancestors a thousand or more years ago. Or maybe we are righteous individuals who have a soul big enough to bear suffering and thereby atone for the sins of non-religious or less-religious persons. Children who suffer are souls that were reincarnated in order to polish off their soul work. The Holocaust was because some Jews had assimilated and become less religious, and therefore the Nation of Israel as a whole had to undergo horrendous suffering to atone for those who had become less Jewish.
I found the book a challenging read. I personally cannot believe in a G-d who chooses to purify souls with the horrors of the Holocaust, child rape, or the other atrocities that we know take place in the world. If you believe that G-d is behind everything that happens in this world, than the book will be more convincing for you. I found it interesting, and I would like to find a book that explains what Orthodox Jews believe in case there are any other surprising revelations, but it’s not a worldview that resonates.
Lastly, the author dismisses Conservative Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book When Bad things happen to Good people as bad meaning “unpleasant” and good meaning “pleasant.” I don’t find Kushner’s views satisfying or wholly convincing either, but his views are not as simplistic or idiotic as “unpleasant and pleasant.” Any reasonably intelligent person knows what is meant by bad and good things happening to bad and good people.
Not a quick or easy read, but definitely a worthwhile and thought-provoking one. Based on extensive talks given by the late R' Kirzner -- certainly from the perspective of one who knew about suffering.