Lunch and Learn: Why Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Tuesday, April 14 – noon-1:00 pm
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Meeting ID: 703 869 327#
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“The Bible, after all, repeatedly speaks of God as the special protector of the poor, the widow, and the orphan, without
raising the question of how it happened that they became poor, widowed, or orphaned in the first place.”
―​ Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good​ ​People

Questions:

1. In these 2 sources we read that God is our protector, when have weexperienced that in our lives?
2. Referring back to Kushner’s quote, why do you think we see God as aprotector when those who he is supposed to protect often get neglected?

“We may not ever understand why we suffer or be able to control the forces that cause our suffering, but we can have a lot to say about what suffering does to us, and what sort of people we become because of it. Pain makes some people bitter and envious. It makes others sensitive and compassionate. It is the result, not the cause, of pain that makes some experiences of pain meaningful and others empty and destructive.”
― ​Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People

“When I say we live in the time of the death of God, I mean that thread uniting God and man, heaven and earth, has been broken. We stand is a cold, silent, unfeeling cosmos unaided by any purposeful power beyond our resources. After Auschwitz, what else can a Jew say about God?
– Prof. Richard Rubenstein, After Auschwitz

Questions:
1. Do you find that being Jewish and suffering go hand in hand? Why?

Below you will find the blessing that people often say after they use bathroom. By being grateful for things like our body working properly, does that enlighten our thoughts that God blesses us every day?

Questions:

1. Do you thank God or pray to God only when something bad happens?
2. What would it be like if we also thanked God about the mundane and positivethings in our lives?

Based on a Source Sheet created on Sefaria by ​Alyssa Silva