Life-enriching advice from Harold Kushner

This episode is repeat, originally aired in March 2020. It was originally part of Tapestry@25, a series reflecting on the show's 25th anniversary.

Whenever listeners get in touch with Tapestry wanting to hear an interview with rabbi Harold Kushner again — they're craving something the rabbi brings in abundance. It's his generosity, and grace, and hard-earned wisdom. It's straight-talk (and sometimes tough love), served up with Kushner's trademark affection for his fellow humans.

Kushner has been on the programme quite a few times, addressing everything from the spiritual fallout of the Sept. 11 attacks, to feeling afraid without giving in to the fear, to his most famous topic: why do bad things happen to good people?

 "Life is painful if you do it right. Life will inevitably hurt you and the quality you need is not to lead a charmed life so that you'll never be tested," he said.  

"The quality you need is the resilience to get over that. The answer is: live bravely. Live bravely in an unreliable world."

The rabbi is best known for his landmark book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, the story of his little boy's illness and death. Aaron was diagnosed with the premature aging disease, progeria, when he was a toddler; he died just after his 14th birthday. Kushner's book, which has sold millions of copies around the world, is a beautiful meditation on how to cope with life's tragedies, and how to understand them.

Kushner himself passed away in April 2023. He was 88. 

This episode contains excerpts from conversations that were originally broadcast on Tapestry in 2006 and 2010.