Rabbi Harold Kushner was Gates of Chai speaker Sept. 23

Fort Worth, TX

9/10/2008

Rabbi Harold Kushner, whose 1981 book When Bad Things Happen to Good People transformed him into an international icon, spoke Tuesday Sept. 23 in Ed Landreth Auditorium on the TCU campus. He is guest of honor for the 11th annual Gates of Chai Lectureship in Contemporary Judaism, sponsored by the Program in Jewish Studies at TCU and Brite Divinity School. Topic of his remarks will be “A Jewish-Christian Perspective on Atheism.”

A healing voice for troubled times, Rabbi Kushner is known for his speeches and writings that combine compassion with straightforward wisdom. Brooklyn-born, Kushner was relatively new to the pulpit in the 1960s when he and his wife learned their young son had a progressive, fatal disease that would take his life 11 years later. This family tragedy led him to publish his inspirational first book, which became a bestseller around the world by spreading a message of hope…that, while God is limited in what he can do by the laws of nature, he does give sufferers strength to handle their problems. The book was translated into 12 languages and selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club as one of the 10 most influential books of recent years.

Kushner went on to write other bestsellers, including When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough (awarded the Christopher Medal for its contribution to the exaltation of the human spirit), Living a Life That Matters, How Good Do We Have To Be? and Overcoming Life’s Disappointments. In 1995, Rabbi Kushner was honored by the Christophers as one of 50 people who have made the world a better place in the past 50 years. This is a return appearance for Rabbi Kushner at the Gates of Chai event, having also been the featured speaker in 1999.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and reserved parking or $75 for reserved seats, a pre-event reception and priority parking. Students are admitted free. The number to call is 817-257-5976.

The Gates of Chai Lectureship is designed to promote informed, dynamic public dialogue and education on issues of relevance to contemporary Judaism. The lectureship is sponsored through the generosity of Gates of Chai, Inc., in memory of Larry Kornbleet and family members of Stanley and Marcia Kornbleet Kurtz who perished in the Holocaust.

Previous Gates of Chai speakers include Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, legal/political activists Morris Dees and Susan Estrich, Middle Eastern policy expert Dennis Ross and authors Thomas Cahill, Chaim Potok and Bruce Feiler.