Making Loss Matter : Creating Meaning in Difficult Times - Softcover

Rabbi David J. Wolpe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1573228206 ISBN 13: 9781573228206

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2000

Synopsis

Some losses are so subtle they go unnoticed, some so overwhelming and cruel they seem unbearable. Coping with grief and experiencing loss overwhelms us in ways that seem both hopeless and endless. In painful moments like these, we must make a choice: Will we allow the difficulties we face to become forces of destruction in our lives, or will we find a way to begin learning from loss, transforming our suffering into a source of strength?

A theologian with the heart of a poet, Rabbi David Wolpe explores the meaning of loss, and the way we can use its inevitable appearance in our lives as a source of strength rather than a source of despair. In this national bestseller, Wolpe creates a remarkably fluid account of how we might find a way out of overwhelming feelings of helplessness and instead begin understanding grief in all its forms and learn to create meaning in difficult times.

About this title

About the Author

David J. Wolpe is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California, and has been named the most influential rabbi in America by Newsweek and one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by the Jerusalem Post. He has taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Wolpe, a weekly columnist for Time.com, has been published and profiled in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Jewish Week. He is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times.

From Publishers Weekly

Early in his book, Wolpe, rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, shares a sobering thought: "Losses are the stuff of life. They will not miss you, they will not steer around those whom you love." The author's search for meaningful ways to deal with loss came soon after his wife, Ellie, was diagnosed with cancer. He admits that his "life was suddenly full of shadows," and he feared that his vibrant wife might die. As Wolpe struggles with his fear of loss and with the daily crises brought by Ellie's illness, he realizes that facing loss requires courage and love. Although he had been writing this book before his wife's illness, her cancer gave him a new perspective on facing suffering. Wolpe uses personal anecdotes, ancient stories of suffering and joy, the sagacious parables of rabbis and the wisdom of poets and philosophers to explore the nature of loss and the ways we can respond meaningfully to it. He notes that throughout life we experience a variety of losses, some trivial and others grave, such as the loss of home, dreams, self, faith, love and life. On the loss of dreams, for instance, Wolpe writes, "Dreams can ennoble us even when they fail.... Each dream can be a step on the ladder we climb in order to become the person we were meant to be." In order for loss to be meaningful, he contends, we must not run from it but incorporate its scars deeply in our lives, face it with faith and courage and celebrate the new identities that we derive from our experience. Although Wolpe really offers no new ideas about coping with loss, his easy manner and eloquent storytelling will help readers suffering from loss feel as if they have found a companion on their journeys. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1573228206
• ISBN 13: 9781573228206
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240