Truths You Can Use

Truths You Can Use

Bio

Evan Moffic is Rabbi of the historic Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois. He was named to that post at age 30, becoming one of the youngest senior rabbis in the Reform movement. In addition to writing for Beliefnet, Rabbi Moffic writes a weekly note of inspiration for subscribers to his blog. He teaches several ongoing classes at the synagogue and in the community at Common Ground-Chicago. His writings have also appeared in the Forward, the New York Jewish Week, and several of the most widely-read blogs in the country. They include subjects of interfaith weddings, Jewish values, Reform Judaism and the intersection of science and rleigion.

Rabbi Moffic was ordained by the seminary of Reform Judaism, the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, in 2006. He graduated with high honors from Stanford University in 2000, where he wrote a thesis on Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. An avid runner and tennis player, Rabbi Moffic is married to Rabbi Arielle Moffic, the director of Interfaithfamily/Chicago. They are the parents of two young children.

He believes that his philosophy of the life was captured best by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Have You Earned Your Name?

posted by Evan Moffic

Two thousand years ago the Jewish sages taught that we have at least three names during our lifetime — the name our parents give us, the name our friends call us, and the name we earn for ourselves in the [...]

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How President Obama Can Win Over Israel

posted by Evan Moffic

President Obama lands today in Israel. It is his first visit as President. His relationship with Israelis has had its ups and downs. He intrigued and inspired many Israelis during the 2008 campaign. One merchant interviewed recently in the New [...]

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How To Ask the Right Question (It Could Save Your Life)

posted by Evan Moffic

In a recent talk Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, pointed out a unique feature of the Hebrew language. It contains two words for the one English word “why.” The two Hebrew words are [...]

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Why Jews Don’t Have a Pope

posted by Evan Moffic

Chutzpah is a Yiddish word with no exact English translation. The closest English equivalent would be “audacity” or “boldness.” But chutzpah also contains an element of passion, social concern and self-confidence. Someone with chutzpah knows what he believes, and knows [...]

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Another Reason to Turn Off the Television
The New York Times once featured an article about the commuter train from Long Island into New York City. Amongst the dozens of cars on the train is an odd one. In it is a group of people studying the massive set of Jewish legal books known as the Talmud. Every weekday morning men and women gathe

posted 5:47:44pm May. 19, 2013 | read full post »

The Unhappy Mother's Day
At my previous synagogue, I became friendly with an older woman. She told me all the time about her amazing son. My wife and I even had dinner with her, her son and his family to celebrated her 80th birthday. A few weeks later I got a call at my office. The caller said she’d like to set up a me

posted 6:43:38pm May. 09, 2013 | read full post »

Are You Making Each Day Count?
"Don't count the days, make the days count." --Muhammad Ali Recall a great scene from the film LA Story: The weatherman, played by Steve Martin, is delivering his typical forecast. As he throws little yellow magnets on the map, he yells “Sun! Sun! Sun! Sun!” He seems exasperated that warm and s

posted 5:22:02pm May. 08, 2013 | read full post »

What My Dad Learned in Prison
A nineteenth century rabbi used to spend time each afternoon looking out of his window. Every day he saw a member of his synagogue rushing down the street. One day he stopped him and said, "Why are you always in a hurry?" The man replied, "I'm running to make a living." The rabbi answered, "How d

posted 2:42:04pm May. 04, 2013 | read full post »

How to (Re) Discover Our Purpose
The great 19th century psychologist William James had trouble getting out of bed one morning. Describing his struggle he wrote, The warm couch feels too delicious, the cold outside too cruel, and resolution faints away and postpones itself again and again just as it seemed on the verge of bursting

posted 4:34:59pm Apr. 28, 2013 | read full post »


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