After 50 years helping others, Rabbi Harold S. Kushner knows fear constantly nibbles and gnaws our bodies and souls.


Your doctor wants to discuss your biopsy results. Your job is shaky and your 401(k) is shrinking. There's nothing on the news but terrorism and crime.

As the Rabbi Laureate at Temple Israel in Natick, Kushner increasingly senses "people are hurting."

In his 12th book, "Conquering Fear," he offers wise suggestions about not just coping with fear but how to overcome the physical and spiritual anxieties afflicting modern life.

"I listen to people. I read the letters they send. There is, I think, a pervasive sense of fear and a free-floating anxiety that things are out of control," said Kushner, 74.

"There's a sense of vulnerability and feeling the 9/11 attacks changed everything. People seem to feel the problems today are bigger than whoever is in office."

Reflecting a prescience that might come from listening to parishioners' worries, Kushner began his book before the current financial crisis and later added 10 pages to address readers' economic fears.

Subtitled "Living Boldly in an Uncertain World," his book goes on sale Oct. 6.

About a week after today's Yom Kippur holiday, Kushner will begin an intermittent crosscountry book tour with a stop at Barnes & Nobles Booksellers in Framingham on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.

As in previous books, Kushner reaches back 3,000 years to the tradition of Jewish wisdom literature to examine everyday and extraordinary fears that have always affected people. Then he leavens those observations with practical and empathic advice from his five decades as a rabbi.

His message reiterates in crucial ways a quotation by Mark Twain which he selected for his book's frontpiece: "Courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of fear."

In nine chapters and 173 pages, Kushner examines a litany of concerns familiar to people of all faiths. They include terrorism, natural disasters, job loss, rejection, aging and death. "And the Red Sox need a fifth starter," he joked.

For Kushner, conquering fear requires a rational awareness of potential consequences complemented by the willingness to reach out to family, friends and community for help.

In today's uncertain world, Kushner regards fear of rejection as one of the most crippling anxieties affecting people. "Whether it's losing a job or being rejected in a failed romance, it can pull the rug out from under peoples' sense of identity. There's an association between love and work, between intimacy and competence, that deserves to be studied further," he said.

Kushner said surrendering to fear or trying to fight it alone often makes things worse. "If you can't solve the problem by yourself, you do a worse job when you're afraid," he said. "You make things harder if you try to do it alone. That's what family and friends are for."

A New York native, Kushner said when he first entered Columbia University he'd planned to major in psychology. But after learning the department was dominated by behaviorists who rejected the idea of free will, he switched majors to literature. After graduating from Columbia, he later earned his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1960.

At a time widespread fears about terrorism have exacerbated misunderstandings between Christians and Jews and the Islamic world, Kushner urges people of all religions to see beyond their fears.

"We all tend to be aware of our own weaknesses and the other side's strengths," he said. "We don't have to be afraid of each other. We're much stronger than we think we are." Just as the rabbi cited non-Jewish approaches to difficulties, his book offers practical insights for members of all faiths.

Unlike Christianity, he said Judaism does not have a tradition of holy men who retreat from the world into prayerful solitude. Kushner said, "The Jewish saint is in the midst of the world. He doesn't turn his back on the world. Holiness is found in the community."

Regardless of the scope of one's problems, Kushner believes religious faith provides a crucial foundation to overcome debilitating fears.

"If it's the first time you're reaching out to God, you might be starting late. It's hard to learn golf late in life," he said. "God's message is on the airwaves. You have to be careful you're tuned in."

As one potential remedy, Kushner urged people to reconsider the fundamental meaning of prayer. It is not, he said, as some mistakenly believe just a way to get what they want.

"Prayer is a coming into the presence of God," said Kushner. "You don't have to ask for anything. You express your gratitude."