Celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Coming to the Berman

In response to Rabbi Harold Kushner comes Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

The question of "why bad things happen to good people" was tackled by Kushner in a bestselling novel, and in the wake of recent national tragedies, Boteach offers a different answer.

Next month, Boteach will lecture at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield on his new book, The Fed-Up Man of Faith (Gefen Publishing House) Feb. 11.

Boteach, an American Orthodox rabbi who is wel known for books that discuss modern Judaism, lashes out against mainstream references to religion in the wake of national tragedy in Man of Faith.

"Religion is there to inspire humanity. The more than we find reasons why people suffer, because of sin or cleansing, it diminishes our resolve to rid the world of suffering," Boteach added.

Boteach points to several Biblical examples to support the stance that an attitude of defiance and anger is healthier than righteous suffering, which was espoused by Kushner in his 1981 release When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

"Bad things happen to good people because we continue to find meaning in suffering," Boteach said, in reference to tragedies such as the recent incidents in Newtown, CT, and Aurora, CO. "We do not fight against suffering sufficiently because there’s always some reason why people die."

Tickets are $18 per person for advance tickets and $25 at the door. For more information, visit theberman.org.