When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Young rabbi Harold Kushner learns that his three-year-old son, Aaron, has progeria, a disease of premature aging that will cause the boy to grow old and die in his teens. Stunned by the unfairness—Why would God so burden the family of a good, religious man, much less ruin the life of an innocent child?—Kushner knows at once that he’ll write a book about this journey, as much to help himself as to help others who face similar tragedies.

Books on life’s unfairness usually defend God’s honor but don’t deal with the pain of its victims. Those writings “had answers to all of their own questions, but no answer for mine" (7). Instead of penning yet another defense of God in a cruel world, Kushner decides to write a book that can help individuals cope with the pain of unfairness and repair their relationship to God.

The most persistent and meaningful issue people bring to Rabbi Kushner is “why do bad things happen to good people?” (9). How can evil exist in a world governed by God? Is He still good? Is He kind? Can He even exist in such a world?