Hope, Not Fear
Changing the Way We View Death
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- $48.99
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- $48.99
Publisher Description
In Hope, Not Fear Benjamin Blech helps readers approach the end of life with calm. More than six years ago Blech was diagnosed with a fatal illness and given six months to live. Over the course of his career Rabbi Blech had counseled hundreds of people through the losses of loved ones and their own end of life, but when confronted with his own unexpected diagnosis he struggled with mortality in a new way. This personal and heartfelt book shares the answers people grappling with the end of life want to know—from what happens when we die to how we can live fully in the meantime. Drawing insights from many religious traditions as well as near death experiences, Hope, Not Fear shares the wisdom and comfort we all need to view death in an entirely new light.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rabbi Blech (The Sistine Secrets) provides intriguing reasons for readers to take a fresh, fearless look at their own mortality in this surprisingly upbeat book on dying. Diagnosed with a fatal heart disease in 2012 and given only six months to live, 85-year-old Blech reminds readers that "life itself is a fatal disease for which there is no known cure." He found his diagnosis liberating, and it inspired him to look for proof of the soul's existence after death. After consulting the Torah, Jewish rituals and oral tradition, accounts of near death experiences, and the mysteries of the kabbalah, Blech concluded that, if God is good, the fact that life on Earth is unfair means there must be more left to experience. Though Blech acknowledges his arguments are more anecdotal than scientific, he gives readers plenty of food for thought on fringe topics (including reincarnation and hell's expiration date) without any pressure to buy into his own conclusions. Blech leaves readers with key lessons he's learned over the course of his ongoing dance with death, including the importance of holding on to faith, prayer, and optimism.
