Harold Kushner

  b. 1935 | American rabbi/author

At The Bottom

— 1966

Left her without sight or hearing -- a severe and extremely rare handicap.

The diagnosis hardly seemed believable.  Harold Kushner, a 31-year-old rabbi from Natick, Massachusetts, listened as the doctor explained that his 3-year-old son Aaron was suffering from a rare genetic disease called progeria, which causes a child to age so rapidly that they rarely live beyond their teenage years.  Kushner was distraught with grief, and he suddenly realized that the usual words of comfort — the advice he gave to members of his congregation during traumatic moments of their lives — were completely useless.  He couldn’t believe, for example, that God would have any reason to afflict Aaron with such a terrible illness.  What had his son ever done to hurt anyone?  Aaron was innocent; moreover, he came from a family whose commitment to God was profound.  How could this have happened?  Kushner had no way to answer the question, and his uncertainty caused him to question whether he could even continue as a rabbi.  All he knew anymore was that his precious child was going to die, and that somehow God had allowed this to happen.