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Why God Why: How to Believe in Heaven When it Hurts Like Hell
Rabbi Gershon Schusterman knew all the textbook answers when comforting bereaved community members who asked him, “Where is God? If God is loving, how could this happen?” But when the rabbi’s young wife died suddenly, leaving him a 38-year-old widower with eleven children to raise, he found himself reeling.
His personal quest for answers to these timeless questions led him to a deeper exploration of Judaism’s teachings about how to cope with and transcend tragedy, teachings that have provided comfort and understanding to millions of people throughout the generations. Written for anyone who has also endured devastating loss, this wise and sensitive guide will help
- Work through your grief while not becoming stuck in grief
- Grow toward a hopeful, future oriented perspective—because life is meant to be lived.
His personal quest for answers to these timeless questions led him to a deeper exploration of Judaism’s teachings about how to cope with and transcend tragedy, teachings that have provided comfort and understanding to millions of people throughout the generations. Written for anyone who has also endured devastating loss, this wise and sensitive guide will help
- Work through your grief while not becoming stuck in grief
- Grow toward a hopeful, future oriented perspective—because life is meant to be lived.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2022
33 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 12, 2023
My husband died 7 years ago. I was doing pretty well, until the recent sudden, tragic death of my daughter-in-law. It threw me back into a place I didn't want to ever visit again, one that I had fought to get out of. And this time, what worked last time wasn't helping. I was lost. This book popped up as a recommendation on my Amazon feed. Based on the reviews there, I decided that although I'm not Jewish, there is great wisdom in their millennia of suffering, so perhaps there was something in this book that would help. So I picked it up and discovered it started with "I knew all the answers because I was a well-trained rabbi... I had to explain sudden or prolonged loss... I thought those answers were enough... And then my wife died." BINGO! I knew this was the book I needed to read.
It's shocking to become a widow and to realize that so much of what is taught, and what is used by people (including counselors) to "help", just isn't true. Oh yes, it's based on studies (Kubler-Ross comes to mind), but the use has been distorted. One of the first discoveries in widow/erhood is that the ONLY people that truly understand are those who have actually experienced it. All the book learning in the world is a mere pittance to what actually happens when your spouse dies. Now let me interject here that I don't believe everything in this book as far as the Jewish religion. But that is irrelevant to the amount of great wisdom to be gained from the book. Perspectives I hadn't seen came to light. Guidance into looking inside myself and evaluating my feelings was abundant, but gentle and kind. So now I, too, highly recommend this book. Yes, some things with which your religious beliefs disagree, you may discard. But search for the deep wisdom. Because it's there. LOTS of it. Even an atheist will find a great deal of helpful wisdom in the pages. So read it and then put the wisdom into practice. And then reread the book again. It's worth it.
(Review based on Hardcover edition (Amazon purchase) which isn't listed on Goodreads, only the Kindle edition.)
It's shocking to become a widow and to realize that so much of what is taught, and what is used by people (including counselors) to "help", just isn't true. Oh yes, it's based on studies (Kubler-Ross comes to mind), but the use has been distorted. One of the first discoveries in widow/erhood is that the ONLY people that truly understand are those who have actually experienced it. All the book learning in the world is a mere pittance to what actually happens when your spouse dies. Now let me interject here that I don't believe everything in this book as far as the Jewish religion. But that is irrelevant to the amount of great wisdom to be gained from the book. Perspectives I hadn't seen came to light. Guidance into looking inside myself and evaluating my feelings was abundant, but gentle and kind. So now I, too, highly recommend this book. Yes, some things with which your religious beliefs disagree, you may discard. But search for the deep wisdom. Because it's there. LOTS of it. Even an atheist will find a great deal of helpful wisdom in the pages. So read it and then put the wisdom into practice. And then reread the book again. It's worth it.
(Review based on Hardcover edition (Amazon purchase) which isn't listed on Goodreads, only the Kindle edition.)
July 6, 2025
How can we possibly understand why bad things happen to good people? Rabbi Schusterman takes us on a quest to make sense of these events even if ultimately it is impossible to understand them. With the backdrop of Rabbi Schusterman's experiences counseling individuals who have suffering major losses as well as his own personal tragedy, Why God Why? presents an in depth and thought provoking exploration of Jewish teachings on the subject. This gem of a book is written in an easy-to-read style as though the reader were having a personal conversation with Rabbi Schusterman. I highly recommended this book.
July 23, 2023
Review of eBook
This book, the author posits, is for the brokenhearted.
It is also for those who wish a deeper understanding, for the despairing who wonder why God did this [thing] or why God allowed this [thing] to happen. Is it our fault? A punishment? Can we know good without evil? Why would God allow tragedy and evil in His world?
For these questions, and many others, the author guides the reader through a series of thoughtful investigations designed to seek out the answers, provide perspective, to comfort the reader. The Judaism theological tenets, used here to provide a framework for the reader seeking to cope with the monumental tragedy of loss, provide much food for thought as this guide shines a light in the darkness of grief.
Highly recommended.
This book, the author posits, is for the brokenhearted.
It is also for those who wish a deeper understanding, for the despairing who wonder why God did this [thing] or why God allowed this [thing] to happen. Is it our fault? A punishment? Can we know good without evil? Why would God allow tragedy and evil in His world?
For these questions, and many others, the author guides the reader through a series of thoughtful investigations designed to seek out the answers, provide perspective, to comfort the reader. The Judaism theological tenets, used here to provide a framework for the reader seeking to cope with the monumental tragedy of loss, provide much food for thought as this guide shines a light in the darkness of grief.
Highly recommended.
March 24, 2023
When I was in middle school the author’s first wife Rochel Leah was my Morah (teacher). Though I had already left the school before her untimely death; her death truly rocked the community to its core. Reading the author’s experience after all these years provides wisdom and nuance. I appreciate the theological groundwork set in this book.
We all face a hard road. At some point most of us will ask “Why God Why?”, hopefully this book will be of use to help usher the crestfallen through the path forward.
We all face a hard road. At some point most of us will ask “Why God Why?”, hopefully this book will be of use to help usher the crestfallen through the path forward.
July 23, 2023
This book is a strong addition to the “bad things happen to good people” genre. In my opinion the subject is well covered. The author reaches a conclusion which is well based in Jewish hashkafa. Related topics are discussed as well; for example, the Jewish views of shomayim and gehennam. One of the strengths of this book, in my opinion, is that despite the author being driven to write this book by his own personal tragedy the book itself is never personal. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Jewish understanding of tragedy.
November 28, 2022
"Why God Why?" by Rabbi Gershon Schusterman is an excellent read whether or not you are faithful. It helps to explain pain and suffering and why bad things happen to good people from an authentic Torah Judaism perspective. It is a meaningful read and I highly recommend it to anyone, but especially to those who are processing painful events.
July 21, 2025
A rebuttal of Rabbi Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Full of insightful anecdotes. This is a primer in Orthodox thought and approach to why evil exists and what to do about it. I didn't appreciate the heavy moralizing tone (God is testing us, this is for our benefit, etc.) but it didn't surprise me. Might work for some people. When you lose a child, it falls flat.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews