Rabbi Kushner Postulates - Essay Example

According to Kushner, it can essentially therefore be perceived to be rather impossible for one to be able to effectively answer this question as attempts to try and answer it generally result in the asking of more complex questions that cause people to start doubt in God or have wavering faith (WTVI 1985). Rabbi Kushner postulates that we are probably not asking the right question as we tend to mostly concentrate on asking the question of why. Why tends to more frequently dwell on the past as opposed to trying to establish a way forward.

No matter how pious one might happen to be, it is not possible to change the past and we should instead concentrate on the future. In line with this, Rabbi Kushner theorizes that the answer to a question does not necessarily have to be a response, but it can instead be in the form of an explanation. Perhaps, the answer to the question on why bad things sometimes tend to happen to good people is that there is no solution to this answer as we live in an imperfect world. Question 2: There are three key terms that Rabbi Kushner postulates as being of critical importance if one is to be able to adequately discuss the problems relating to the everyday reality of human suffering and grief and the God of the Jewish revelation.

The first term is that there is a common assumption that God happens to be all powerful and absolutely nothing can ever be impossible for him to do. We think of God as being in charge of every single aspect of creation and controls everything that happens to us. The second term that Rabbi Kushner puts forth is that God’s nature is exceedingly just, kind and fair and He always gives us more than we happen to actually deserve while forever giving us the benefit of doubt by providing us with a second chance.

The third term is seen to be personated by the assumption that Job was a good man since he was seen to be initially respected, healthy and extremely wealthy (Job, 614-644; WTVI 1985). It is evidently not possible for all of these three to be mutually compatible in the event that one attempts to use them in attempting to explain an encounter with a grave misfortune. This is because of the human tendency to try and shift the blame to a given individual thus disputing the third term that the individual is a good person.

The other two terms can be viewed as being of a sacrilegious nature as trying to dispute them goes against all the tenets governing religion as we currently know it. Question 3: Rabbi Kushner has a unique perspective in his understanding of miracles in that he does not believe in the big miracles such as miraculously dividing the entire red sea into two or even stopping the sun at high noon. Rather, he thinks of these as being special effects. Instead, although he does believe in miracles, he chooses to believe in the small miracles such as weak people all of a sudden gaining strong characters that help them deal with situations that they would not have been able to effectively cope with before the change, when timid people change and portray extremely brave personalities and when the selfish change their nature and become generous.

Rabbi Kushner points out that to effect such changes in people, it is imperative for one to be God as these cannot simply be achieved by camera effects as commonly happens in movies. God is the only person that can bring about exceptional qualities in individuals, qualities that these individuals did not previously happen to possess (WTVI 1985). Rabbi Kushner has