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If God Is Good, Why Is the World So Bad?
In these troubled times, people are asking very difficult questions about God and their Benjamin Blech admits, the answers are not simple. There is no one-size-fits-all explanation. Indeed, not only are there many answers, but in different situations several explanations may apply. Blech wrote this book as an intellectual analysis of Jewish wisdom on the subject of suffering. His theories are the fruit of thousands of years of debate, examination and struggle. Jewish wisdom teaches that there are rich and inspiring answers to the ultimate If God is good, why is the world so bad? Take part in the most important spiritual journey of all-the quest for serenity in the face of adversity-and discover that in the accumulated wisdom of the ages lies a time-tested solution for turning despair into hope and sorrow into faith.
690 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Benjamin Blech
33 books13 followersBenjamin Blech, born in Zurich in 1933, is an Orthodox rabbi who now lives in New York City.
Rabbi Blech has been a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University since 1966, and was the Rabbi of Young Israel of Oceanside for 37 years. In addition to his work in the rabbinate, Rabbi Blech has written many books on Judaism and the Jewish people and speaks on Jewish topics to communities around the world.
Rabbi Blech received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yeshiva University, a Master of Arts degree in psychology from Columbia University, and rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
Rabbi Blech has been a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University since 1966, and was the Rabbi of Young Israel of Oceanside for 37 years. In addition to his work in the rabbinate, Rabbi Blech has written many books on Judaism and the Jewish people and speaks on Jewish topics to communities around the world.
Rabbi Blech received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yeshiva University, a Master of Arts degree in psychology from Columbia University, and rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 21, 2012
Rabbi Blech's work is framed as a response and antidote to the Blind-Watchmaker approach taken by Rabbi Kushner in "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." In my opinion, R' Blech's work is the far stronger of the two.
The most powerful strength I saw was that R' Blech would bring up an argument, say that that was not a sufficiently compelling argument, providing some of the counter-arguments, and then move on to the next approach. In this, his work is extremely Talmudic - much as the Talmud preserves the minority opinions, so too does this book.
There are some extremely interesting points made here - as an example, on the topic of free will, R' Blech differentiates between a bad thing which is human caused (say, a murder) and a bad thing which did not have a direct human cause (say, cancer) - the former he attributes to humans, where God has withdrawn himself enough that the humans have free will, while the latter is in fact attributed to God. In that respect, the bigger theodicy challenge comes from those non-human-caused things, and R' Blech does not shy away from the pain of confronting these. The last full chapter is on the subject of the Holocaust, and there too he examines several perspectives, most of which are unsatisfying, and his last approach is the one I found the most satisfying - even if he got there via mystical means.
This is highly recommended for anyone who has suffered a loss.
The most powerful strength I saw was that R' Blech would bring up an argument, say that that was not a sufficiently compelling argument, providing some of the counter-arguments, and then move on to the next approach. In this, his work is extremely Talmudic - much as the Talmud preserves the minority opinions, so too does this book.
There are some extremely interesting points made here - as an example, on the topic of free will, R' Blech differentiates between a bad thing which is human caused (say, a murder) and a bad thing which did not have a direct human cause (say, cancer) - the former he attributes to humans, where God has withdrawn himself enough that the humans have free will, while the latter is in fact attributed to God. In that respect, the bigger theodicy challenge comes from those non-human-caused things, and R' Blech does not shy away from the pain of confronting these. The last full chapter is on the subject of the Holocaust, and there too he examines several perspectives, most of which are unsatisfying, and his last approach is the one I found the most satisfying - even if he got there via mystical means.
This is highly recommended for anyone who has suffered a loss.
August 1, 2022
I got to this book a little late. It offers some answers to questions about God and His Wisdom. You may not agree with all or any of it. I don’t. But it’s well written and implores you to contemplate; it’ll surely make one wiser. The first 9 chapters are especially refreshing and thoughtful. The last chapter definitely raises your spirit.
March 16, 2023
I bought this book from a library some years ago and finally got around to reading it. It taught me some new things, and it also reinforced things that I already knew. It does get prosy at times, but it's definitely a worthwhile read overall. I highly recommend this to everyone.
December 20, 2013
It's going to take me awhile to analyze and synthesize some of any of this.
Without getting into the details of Rabbi Blech's particular theodicy, my review will simply be a means to help readers know what they're getting here. Rabbi Blech's approach to suffering is deeply traditional; his "explanations" all stem from Jewish canonical texts, mostly from the Talmud (Gemara). I DID NOT read anything in here that I haven't seen and previously rejected as uncompelling. HOWEVER---Blech does explain some of these principles in novel and empathetic ways that opened my heart a little to them. I was also impressed that Blech does NOT shy away from the hardest of the hard questions: the death of children and the Holocaust. I DEEPLY disagree with what he suggest ms about both, but I applaud his courage to share his positions.
Without getting into the details of Rabbi Blech's particular theodicy, my review will simply be a means to help readers know what they're getting here. Rabbi Blech's approach to suffering is deeply traditional; his "explanations" all stem from Jewish canonical texts, mostly from the Talmud (Gemara). I DID NOT read anything in here that I haven't seen and previously rejected as uncompelling. HOWEVER---Blech does explain some of these principles in novel and empathetic ways that opened my heart a little to them. I was also impressed that Blech does NOT shy away from the hardest of the hard questions: the death of children and the Holocaust. I DEEPLY disagree with what he suggest ms about both, but I applaud his courage to share his positions.
March 30, 2007
He presents some very thought-provoking ideas, and I thought the end was particularly powerful.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews