According to Rabbi Benjamin Blech, Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People is bunk.
by Laura Egendorf
As a tenth-generation rabbi, Benjamin Blech knows a thing or two about matters of faith, as proven in his new book, If God Is Good Why Is the World So Bad? But as a former millionaire, the rabbi emeritus at Young Israel in Oceanside, New York, also knows his finance, which he addresses in his other new book, Taking Stock: A Spiritual Guide To Rising Above Life's Financial Ups and Downs.
Blech, who gained international popularity 15 years ago with Understanding Judaism: The Basics of Deed and Creed, was prompted to write his two newest books for different, yet equally personal, reasons. If God Is Good is Blech's response to Harold Kushner's 1981 bestseller When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Blech explains: "Many times I met people who had read Kushner's book, and I got two reactions, which are both shocking to me." Blech was dismayed to hear that people who had read Kushner now believed that G-d was not omnipotent and that "there was no point in praying to a G-d that was as helpless as they are." While Blech empathizes with the loss that prompted Kushner to write his book, he argues that Kushners's theory that "G-d is not powerful enough to do the right thing" contradicts traditional Judaism. According to Blech, "If you believe in G-d, you believe you can pray to Him and He will answer."
According to Blech, everything G-d does happens for a reason, even if it may be a reason we do not yet understand. And often, posits Blech, the reasons differ from person to person. Only by reflecting on the tragedies in our own lives can we perhaps discover a portion of G-d's reason for His decisions. While the death of a child may be the worst tragedy that can befall a person, such an event can lead parents to reevaluate their lives and priorities and gain a greater appreciation for their remaining good fortune.
However, Blech contends that many tragedies are not G-d's doing, but Man's. Evil, says Blech, exists because G-d gave us free will. As Blech writes, "If humankind did not have free will, we would still be in the Garden of Eden, because we could not have chosen to disobey G-d's one commandment not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But without that freedom to choose, our lives would have been a puppet show." Free will may lead to unwise or even evil decisions, but it can also lead people to strive for holiness. Blech explains, "Everything G-d does happens for a reason, but things people do can happen because people make bad choices." It is not due to the will of G-d that a woman is abused but because the abuser is evil. However, while God allows people to choose unwisely, "there are exceptions, when G-d can't take it anymore." These exceptions, says Blech, are miracles: not Biblical miracles, as in the parting of the Red Sea, but smaller ones, like when a person steps out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by a car.
In addition to free will, Blech explores the idea of Jewish guilt through the story of Job. When the long-suffering man is at his lowest point, his friends blame him for his ills. "Instead of comforting him, they're making him feel he must be the worst person in the world... they are equating suffering with guilt and sin." Blech wants people to know that Job's friends were wrong and people should not blame themselves when something bad occurs - tragedy occurs because of free will or because G-d has a plan we don't yet understand.
While Blech was dismayed with Kushner's conclusions, he understands the tendency to doubt G-d, calling it "a particularly Jewish trait." Jews view G-d as a friend, even using the friendly form of you ("ata"), not the more formal third person in our blessings. Thus, as friends, we can say to G-d, "I believe in you so strongly, I can't understand what you're doing." But despite this doubt, Blech asserts, people must not lose their faith.
It remains to be seen whether Blech's book will match the success of Kushner's famous work or appeal only to a more traditional Jewish audience. Regardless of its sales figures, says Blech, "I'm just delighted that the message of the book is getting out to so many people."
The second book comes from Blech's personal experiences with the stock market. Like many people, Blech invested in the booming stock market of the late '90s, becoming "a millionaire many times over." A man who had always been middle class was finally wealthy, but those riches vanished when the market collapsed. Blech became miserable. "It's hard to admit, but even as a rabbi, I fell into depression," he says. But Blech mined his own experience for insights into dealing with the senseless financial world in a healthy and holy manner. His analysis became Taking Stock.
In Taking Stock Rabbi Blech examines the modern attitude toward money and the best way for Jews to invest. While the book focuses on the difficult issue of modern finances, it mixes those lessons with meaningful anecdotes and humor (the book skips Chapter 11). The key lesson, says Blech, "is to learn from other people... studies found that [there's no relationship] between amount of money and amount of happiness." Happiness depends on things like family and self-esteem, "But our society keeps telling people... make money, be rich, and you'll be happy." As members of a consumer-oriented society, we tend to be envious of those who have more than we do. Other lessons in the book include understanding that one shouldn't give up after failing, because success comes from striving again and again, and recognizing that crises can lead to a better understanding of one's capability.
Beyond learning these and other lessons, Taking Stock details in the chapter "Why the Bible Is Better Than Buffett" - a reference to investor and businessman Warren Buffett - how to invest Halachically. For example, investors need to realize that the stock market goes in cycles: a period of rising stock values is bound to be followed by a period of recession, and vice versa. Investors should also examine the ethics of the companies in which they invest; as Blech notes, "I think it's a serous consideration whether we should invest in tobacco stocks or things that are harmful to people." Thirdly, Blech suggests that investors donate 10 percent of their profits to charity: "That way, you're making G-d a co-investor with you. It's in G-d's interest to see that you make money."
Blech is not taking it easy after the publication of his two latest books. He has a new website, www.benjaminblech.com, and will publish another book in the spring, Eyewitness to Jewish History, an anthology of excerpts from diaries, journals, and newspaper reports. His lectures and appearances on television and radio also continue.
For Blech, who for now is the last in his family to be a rabbi - his son is in Internet sales advertising, and none of his daughters are married to a rabbi, "but that doesn't mean tradition can't start again" - studying and writing are what brings him joy.
Thankfully for the people who read his books and attend his lectures, what makes Blech happy makes them better equipped to face life's toughest spiritual and economic struggles.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech
When: Thursday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Chabad Center of University City, 3813 Governor Drive, University City
$15. For more information, call (858) 455-1670.
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