Turning Grief Into Gratitude [Paperback]

Reuven P. Bulka (Author), Maurice Lamm (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2007

Discover how to comfort a mourner and how to overcome your own grief after a loved one dies. After 35 years of consoling and counseling mourners as a rabbi and psychologist, Rabbi Bulka takes you on an insightful journey through the intricacies of his grieving following the deaths of his parents, and illustrates how grief can be turned into gratitude.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bulka (Chicken Soup with Chopsticks), a rabbi and psychologist, blends personal stories with practical advice in this brief memoir. Despite the self-helpish title, it's more an autobiography than a how-to manual for either mourners or those who wish to comfort them. The first half of the book is primarily a love letter to Bulka's parents, who passed away within weeks of each other in March 2006, followed just a few weeks later by Bulka's mother-in-law. The rabbi had already endured his share of mourning, having lost an infant son years before to SIDS and his first wife to cancer. Bulka speaks lovingly, even hagiographically, of his deceased parents, and then turns in chapter four to questions of grief and mourning etiquette. His discussions of Jewish mourning rituals are helpful, though some readers will wish for more detail. His final chapter on "How to Console" will be valuable to those who wish to offer comfort but are terrified of saying something inappropriate. ("Those coming to visit mourners will need to think about what they will say before they come calling," he advises.) Jewish readers who have lost one or both parents will find consolation in this warm and deeply personal guide. (Feb. 20)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Paper Spider (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0973252367
• ISBN-13: 978-0973252361
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,966,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful book that blends practical considerations with the harsh emotional impact of reality., March 7, 2007

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turning Grief Into Gratitude (Paperback)

Turning Grief Into Gratitude: Reflections and Recommendations on Mourning and Condolence is the insightful memoir of Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka, discussing how, after thirty-five years of consoling and counseling mourners, he had to confront the loss of his own parents. Offering a uniquely Jewish perspective of one man's efforts to cope, Turning Grief into Gratitude delves into absorbing the shock when the dreaded day arrives, the importance of appreciating past good times, reflections upon mourning itself, and also, practical advice on how to console others undergoing turbulent times - people mean well, but it is all to easy to say the wrong thing at the worst time. A thoughtful book that blends practical considerations with the harsh emotional impact of reality.