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Rabbi Harold Kushner, whose works of practical theology were best-sellers, dies at 88
(JTA) — Rabbi Harold Kushner, one of the most influential congregational rabbis of the 20th century whose works of popular theology reached millions of people outside the synagogue, has died.
Kushner, who turned 88 on April 3, died Friday in Canton, Massachusetts, just miles from the synagogue where he had been rabbi laureate for more than three decades.
Kushner’s fairly conventional trajectory as a Conservative rabbi was altered shortly after arriving at Temple Israel of Natick when, on the day his daughter Ariel was born, his 3-year-old son Aaron was diagnosed with a fatal premature aging condition, progeria.
“When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” published in 1981, represented Kushner’s attempt to make sense of Aaron’s suffering and eventual death, just days after his 14th birthday. It was turned down by two publishers before being released by Schocken Books, a Jewish publisher.
In the book, Kushner labors to reconcile the twin Jewish beliefs in God’s omnipotence and his benevolence with the reality of human suffering. ”Can I, in good faith, continue to teach people that the world is good, and that a kind and loving God is responsible for what happens in it?” he writes.
Ultimately, he concludes that God’s ability is limited when it comes to controlling the hazards of life that result in tragedy on a widespread and smaller scale, such as the Holocaust and the death of a child.
It is a view that runs afoul of traditional Jewish teaching about God, and it earned Kushner critics among some Orthodox Jews and also drew rebuttals from other Jewish theologians. But it resonated widely for a long time and with many people, Jewish and non-Jewish, rocketing to the top of The New York Times’ best-seller list. More than 4 million copies have been sold in at least a dozen languages.
He scaled back his duties at his synagogue, then stepped away, as other books followed, tackling topics equally as daunting: the meaning of life, talking to children about God, overcoming disappointment. “To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking,” published in 1993, became a go-to resource for people exploring Judaism, while “Living a Life That Matters: Resolving the Conflict Between Conscience and Success,” published in 1986, was another best-seller.
“I think that Rabbi Kushner was successful because he catered to everybody,” Carolyn Hessel, the director of the Jewish Book Council, said in 2017 when it revived the Lifetime Achievement Award to honor Kushner. “He reached everybody’s heart. It wasn’t just the Jewish heart. He reached the heart of every human being.”
Kushner was born in Brooklyn and educated in the New York City public schools. After his ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1960, he went to court to have his military exemption waived.
For two years he served as a military chaplain in Oklahoma before assuming his first pulpit, as an assistant rabbi at another Temple Israel, this one in Great Neck, New York.
Four years later he moved to Natick, where he remained even as he became a celebrity. In 1983, with his book a best-seller and demanding more of his time, Kushner cut back to part-time at the synagogue. Seven years later he stepped down to devote himself fully to writing.
The congregation, believing their then-55-year-old rabbi too young to be named rabbi emeritus, made Kushner their rabbi laureate, a title held by only a handful of American spiritual leaders.
It would be one of a growing number of accolades: Kushner was honored by the Roman Catholic organization the Christophers as someone who made the world a better place, and the organization Religion in America named him clergyman of the year in 1999. In 2004 he read from the book of Isaiah at the state funeral of President Ronald Reagan.
He remained involved in the Conservative movement after leaving the pulpit, serving as a leader in the New England region of its rabbinical association and, with the novelist Chaim Potok, editing its 2001 Etz Hayim Torah commentary.
“My seminary training was all about Jewish answers. My congregational experience has been more in terms of Jewish questions,” Kushner told JTA in 2008. “I start with the anguish, the uncertainty, the lack of fulfillment I find in the lives of the very nice, decent people who are in this synagogue and who are my readers. And Judaism is the answer.”
He added, “How do I live a fulfilling life is the question. And Judaism is the answer.”
Kushner’s wife, Suzette, died in 2022, 45 years after their son Aaron. Kushner is survived by his daughter, Ariel Kushner Haber, and two grandchildren.
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Deal With US Within Reach ‘Only if Diplomacy Is Given Priority,’ Iran’s Foreign Minister Says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool
Iran‘s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that a deal with the US was “within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” days ahead of an expected fresh round of talks between the two sides in Geneva.
The talks are set to take place on Thursday in Geneva, a senior US official said on Monday, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner slated to meet with an Iranian delegation for the negotiations.
The two countries resumed negotiations earlier this month as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East. Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the region if it is attacked.
“We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests,” Araqchi said in a post on X.
The Iranian top diplomat said his country would resume the talks with “a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal in the shortest possible time.”
Earlier, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said Iran was ready to take all necessary steps to reach a deal with the United States.
“We are ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We will do whatever it takes to make this happen. We will enter the negotiating room in Geneva with complete honesty and good faith,” Takht-Ravanchi said in comments carried by state media.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump’s “first option” was always diplomacy but that he was “willing to use lethal force” if necessary.
“The president is always the final decision maker around here,” she told reporters at the White House.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran would seriously consider a combination of sending half of its most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the rest, and taking part in creating a regional enrichment consortium – an idea periodically raised during years of Iran-linked diplomacy.
Iran would do this in return for US recognition of Iran‘s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” under a deal that would also include lifting economic sanctions, the official said.
“If there is an attack or aggression against Iran, we will respond according to our defense plans … A US attack on Iran is a real gamble,” Takht-Ravanchi added.
Indirect talks between the two sides last year brought no agreement, primarily due to friction over a US demand that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil, which Washington views as a pathway to a nuclear bomb.
Iran has always denied seeking such weapons.
The US joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites last June, effectively curtailing Iran‘s uranium enrichment, with Trump saying its key nuclear sites were “obliterated.” But Iran is still believed to possess stockpiles enriched previously, which Washington wants it to relinquish.
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Australia Begins Inquiry Into Antisemitism After Bondi Shooting
An Australian flag sits amongst floral tributes honoring the victims of a shooting at Jewish holiday celebration on Sunday at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Australia on Tuesday opened a government-backed inquiry into antisemitism, after a mass shooting at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach killed 15 people in December 2025.
The attack at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration shocked a country with strict gun laws and fueled calls for tougher controls and stronger action against antisemitism.
The Royal Commission, the most powerful type of government inquiry in Australia which can compel people to give evidence, will be led by retired judge Virginia Bell.
It will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia, and is expected to report its findings by December this year.
In her opening statement at a court in Sydney on Tuesday, Bell said security arrangements for the event would form a major part of the commission.
“The commission needs to investigate the security arrangements for that event, and to report on whether our intelligence and law enforcement agencies performed to maximum effectiveness,” Bell said.
Police say the alleged gunmen, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, were inspired by Islamic State.
Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the scene, while Naveed Akram, who was also shot but survived, is currently facing charges including 15 counts of murder and a terror offense.
INQUIRY SCOPE LIMITED
Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, no potential witnesses in Akram’s trial will be called to give evidence to the commission, Bell said.
Bell said she plans to meet with victims’ families in private to explain some of the limitations of her inquiry.
Richard Lancaster, the top lawyer assisting Bell with the inquiry, said his team had sent dozens of requests to government and other agencies to produce documentary evidence, but the level of responses is “not presently where we would like it to be.”
There was no testimony heard or evidence given on Tuesday, and the commission is yet to determine when it will next sit.
Michele Goldman, CEO of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, said after the hearing that the inquiry would be an opportunity to showcase the community’s “horrific” experiences of antisemitism.
But some people directly impacted by the attack would find it “very hard” to be barred from sharing their accounts with the inquiry, she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had initially resisted calls to set up a Royal Commission, saying the process would take years, which attracted criticism from Jewish groups and victims’ families.
The Bondi attack followed a spate of antisemitic incidents in the country, including the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue.
The government has already responded by tightening gun laws and introducing new legislation against hate speech.
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Iran Issues Death Sentence Linked to January Protests, Source Says
A February 2023 protest in Washington, DC calling for an end to executions and human rights violations in Iran. Photo: Reuters/ Bryan Olin Dozier
A revolutionary court in Tehran has issued a death sentence for an Iranian man accused of “enmity against god,” which if confirmed would be the first such sentence linked to mass protests in January, a source close to the man’s family said.
The source told Reuters on Tuesday that Iran‘s judiciary had not yet announced the sentence against the man, Mohammad Abbasi, and that Iran‘s Supreme Court was yet to uphold it.
Abbasi was accused of killing a security officer, an allegation his family denied, the source said.
Rights groups say thousands of people were killed in a crackdown on the protests, the worst domestic unrest in Iran since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
During the unrest, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that he could order military action if it carried out executions.
The source said the defendant’s daughter, Fatemeh Abbasi, was handed a 25-year prison sentence over her role in protests.
“The defendants do not have access to the lawyer they wanted, and were given a public defender,” the source added.