Book Review of Living a Life That Matters by Harold S. Kushner
Inspirational Book Focuses on The Importance of Love
This tug can be caused because whatever it takes to be successful may be hard to reconcile with the beliefs and morals the person might have learnt. Harold S. Kushner speaks about this subject in his 8th book Living A Life That Matters (Anchor Books, 2001, 166 pages. ISBN: 0-375-41063-5).
Kushner is a Rabbi Laureate, but the book talks about religion in general, and about morals he believes should be universal.
Jacob´s Story
The book is centered around the Biblical story of Jacob. Jacob´s name meant "trickster" and that´s how he lived his life. He tricked his older brother Esau into giving him his birthright, and then tricked his blind, dying father into giving him the firstborn´s blessing. For some reason Jacob believed he would only succeed in the world if he tricked his family members into giving him an advantage.
The book implies that this is the mental and emotional struggle a lot of people live with.
Why Good People Do Bad Things
He addresses the questions of why good, morally upright people betrayed their beliefs and did bad things. Or why people who go to church constantly and believe in God, betray the things they claim to stand for. Kushner explains that people who behave like this have the same struggles that Jacob had, and may not only be troubled by their actions, but could even hate themselves for giving into temptation.
He also addresses the fact that although somebody may do something bad, it doesn´t erase all of the good they have done. One of the examples Kushner gives is that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Kushner says that during King´s Civil Rights battle he gave into numerous extramarital affairs, but although that was wrong, King still made a huge impact that can´t be diminished.
He explained that good people will do good things because they are good, but at times will also do bad things because they are human.
Jacob´s Change of Nature
In the Biblical tale, Jacob runs away from his family since his brother Esau threatens to kill him. He then finds Rachel and falls in love. Wanting to marry her, he makes an arrangement with her father: he will give him seven years of free work in exchange of his daughter´s hand. Rachel´s father, Laban, agrees with him, but later tricks him by making him marry his older daughter Lea instead. Jacob had to work another seven free years in order to marry Rachel.
After these events Jacob changes - maybe because he´s seen and felt what it´s like to be tricked – and becomes a better, more honest man. God then changes his name to Israel, which means `one who struggles with God,´ and, Kushner theorizes, his own conscience.
At the end of Jacob´s life he reminisces about his wife Rachel, and how much he loved her.
Love, And How Important It Really Is
That´s the point the book stresses, that although we struggle constantly with different temptations, at the end of it all what matters most are our relationships, and the love given and received from our friends and family.
Before getting to this, Kushner stops at many other points, including the benefits and drawbacks of revenge, and how people may really know they are hearing God´s voice, instead of their own wishful thinking. Kushner gives a lot of examples from his life and from history to back his opinions up, but always comes to the same conclusion: we touch many people throughout our lives, and all that really matters is that it´s lived with love.
The Book Can be a Source of Inspiration to all
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