Rabbi Irwin Kula, the author of “Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life,” contends that people must live in that “messy space between the fulfillment of their deepest yearnings and the satisfaction available in any individual moment.”

Kula will speak at the Tucson Jewish Community Center as part of the 2007 Jewish Authors Series on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m.

Life is always a dance between joy and sadness, certainty and uncertainty, hope and anxiety, meaning and absurdity, pleasure and disappointment, he says.

The very first story in Jewish tradition is the betrayal in Adam and Eve’s relationship with each other and the “God character,” says Kula, adding that theirs is basically a love story where people disappoint each other; they turn on each other. But after Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden, he says, the story goes that they “knew” each other, which means that they made love.

“Show me a love relationship with no betrayal and I’ll show you a relationship that’s not so deep,” says Kula. People often avoid conflict with a loved one because it “doesn’t feel so good,” but it’s essential to reveal vulnerability to move forward in any loving relationship, he says.

“Forgiveness doesn’t mean everything is better; it means there’s an understanding and we move on,” he says, adding that this is different from most conventional religious views that everything is all better. “If we look deeper into our Jewish teachings and our own human experience” there is this constant yearning; for Jews it’s about reaching the promised land, says Kula.

In the last few decades, “Jewish tradition has turned inward and been about trying to protect the Jewish people,” he says. Kula notes that his goal is to help all people become more self-aware and compassionate, and points out that his book is placed on spirituality, religion or self-help shelves in bookstores, not on the Jewish studies shelf.

Kula will sign copies of “Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life” after his talk, which is part of the JCC’s 16th annual Jewish Film Festival. His lecture will be preceded at 7 p.m.by the short film, “Freaks Like Me,” directed by David Holbrooke.

Tickets are $8 for adults; $6 for students and seniors. For more information, call Susan Silverman at 299-3000, ext. 106.