Rabbi Harold Kushner talks and gives stories in relation to his latest book Overcoming Life's Disappointments.
Kushner, the author of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," a book that shows us how to be our best selves even when things don't turn out as we had hoped - that is, how we can overcome life's disappointments.
Kushner turns to the experience of Moses to find the requisite lessons of strength and faith. Moses towers over all others in the Old Testament: he is the man on the mountaintop to whom God speaks with unparalleled intimacy, and he leads his people out of bondage. But he is also deeply human, someone whose soaring triumphs are offset by frustration and longing: his people ignore his teachings, he is denied entrance to the Promised Land, his family suffers. But he overcomes.
From the life of Moses, Kushner gleans principles that can help us deal with the problems we encounter. Through the example of Moses' remarkable resilience, we learn how to weather the disillusionment of dreams unfulfilled, the pain of a lost job or promotion, a child's failures, divorce or abandonment, and illness. We learn how to meet all disappointments with faith in ourselves and the future, and how to respond to heartbreak with understanding rather than bitterness and despair- Books Inc.
Bio
Rabbi Harold S. Kushner
Harold S. Kushner is Rabbi Laureate of Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, where he resides. He has been honored by the Christophers, a Roman Catholic organization, as one of the fifty people who have made the world a better place in the last half century, and by Religion in American Life as the clergyman of the year in 1999. He is the author of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" and eight other books.
(flourished 14th13th century BC) Prophet of Judaism. According to the Book of Exodus, he was born in Egypt to Hebrew parents, who set him afloat on the Nile in a reed basket to save him from an edict calling for the death of all newborn Hebrew males. Found by the pharaoh's daughter, he was reared in the Egyptian court. After killing a brutal Egyptian taskmaster, he fled to Midian, where Yahweh (God) revealed himself in a burning bush and called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. With the help of his brother Aaron, Moses pleaded with the pharaoh for the Israelites' release. The pharaoh let them go after Yahweh had visited a series of plagues on Egypt, but then sent his army after them. Yahweh parted the waters of the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to pass, then drowned the pursuing Egyptians. Yahweh made a covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai and delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses, who continued to lead his people through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness until they reached the edge of Canaan. He died before he could enter the Promised Land. Authorship of the first five books of the Bible (seeTorah) is traditionally ascribed to him.
I have just discovered Harold S. Kushner. They say when the pupil is ready the teacher arrives. Nice to meet you Sir! What an amazing man. I have just finished reading his book "How Good Do We Have To BE" and plan on reading more of his works.
Thank you Rabbi Kushner and FORA.tv.
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