Tragedy in Paris by Rabbi Moffic of Highland Park, Illinois, United States for Monday, 16 November 2015Tragedy in Paris - Dear Friends of All Faiths, This week’s Jewish Bible reading contains one of our most poignant stories. Jacob wrestles with an angel from dusk until dawn. He survives, but he emerges with a limp, a sign of the struggle he experienced and will continue to face his entire life. All of us are limping after the horrific acts of terrorism in Paris this week. Paris symbolizes the values of freedom and democracy that are an anathema to much of the world. Seeing the hundreds murdered and injured leaves us in utter pain and shock. Yet, when Jacob finished wrestling with the angel, he asked him for a blessing. According to the Jewish sages, this teaches us to try to find a blessing within every struggle. It is too early to find a blessing in the mayhem we have witnessed in Paris. Yet, we can find traces of a potential blessing in the religious voices who have condemned these despicable acts of hate and terrorism. In the coming days and weeks, let us find ways to join with them in the critical work of bringing peace and security to Europe, Israel, America and all those places where forces of light and darkness continue to clash Our prayers join with those of people around the world. May God, the One who makes light and peace, bring peace to the City of Light. Rabbi Evan Moffic
Tragedy in Paris
Dear Friends of All Faiths, This week’s Jewish Bible reading contains one of our most poignant stories. Jacob wrestles with an angel from dusk until dawn. He survives, but he emerges with a limp, a sign of the struggle he experienced and will continue to face his entire life.
All of us are limping after the horrific acts of terrorism in Paris this week. Paris symbolizes the values of freedom and democracy that are an anathema to much of the world. Seeing the hundreds murdered and injured leaves us in utter pain and shock.
Yet, when Jacob finished wrestling with the angel, he asked him for a blessing. According to the Jewish sages, this teaches us to try to find a blessing within every struggle.
It is too early to find a blessing in the mayhem we have witnessed in Paris. Yet, we can find traces of a potential blessing in the religious voices who have condemned these despicable acts of hate and terrorism.
In the coming days and weeks, let us find ways to join with them in the critical work of bringing peace and security to Europe, Israel, America and all those places where forces of light and darkness continue to clash
Our prayers join with those of people around the world. May God, the One who makes light and peace, bring peace to the City of Light.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
What Every Christian Needs to Know about Passover: What It Means and Why It Matters: Evan Moffic: 9781426791567: Amazon.com: Books
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What Every Christian Needs to Know about Passover: What It Means and Why It Matters Paperback – February 3, 2015
Looking for a deeper understanding of Easter, Communion, and the Last Supper? Want to learn how to properly observe the Passover celebration? Let popular speaker and religious writer Rabbi Evan Moffic answer your most essential questions about this ancient ceremony.
In a compelling glimpse down the long corridors of history and tradition, Rabbi Moffic shows how Jews and Christians are bound together by the Last Supper and Passover. When you learn to understand the ancient custom of Passover more fully, you'll begin to see the traditions, beliefs, and hopes Christians and Jews have in common.
In What Every Christian Needs to Know About Passover, you'll discover:
- Jewish practices and observances and their influence on Christianity
- How to integrate the Jewish Passover Seder into the Christian Easter preparation
- The roots of numerous modern Christian practices
- A deeper understanding and appreciation of the culture in which Jesus lived
- And much, much more!
[Rabbi Moffic's enjoyable, informative, and straightforward guide is a valuable entry in the Christian genre. If you're a modern Christian who wants to deepen your understanding of the faith you practice, then Moffic's well-written and insightful book is exactly what you need.]
Buy the book to enhance the spiritual meaning in your life today!
Nice Guys Do Not Finish LastI conducted a wedding recently where the bride and groom decided to give away all their gifts. They were not an affluent couple. They could have used the utensils, china and other household items. They simply wanted to start their marriage off with a feeling of abundance.
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Nice Guys Do Not Finish LastAnd Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. (Gen. 41:49) by Rabbi Evan Moffic
I conducted a wedding recently where the bride and groom decided to give away all their gifts.
They were not an affluent couple. They could have used the utensils, china and other household items. They simply wanted to start their marriage off with a feeling of abundance.
Nothing demonstrates our abundance more than generosity. By giving away their gifts, they reminded themselves of the gifts of love and companionship that are more valuable than all the others.
Does the Bible Encourage Generosity
On the surface, their generosity and demonstration of abundance seems to stand in opposition to the biblical text cited above. Joseph is not giving away grain. He is accumulating it.
Yet, as we know from earlier passages, he is accumulating grain so that he can give it away when the time of famine comes. His accumulation does not serve himself. It serves the people.
Generosity Makes Us HappyWe do not need to wisdom of Joseph or the selflessness of the couple I married to appreciate the importance of generosity. Generosity turns us outward. It shifts our focus from the desires of the self to the needs of others. In doing so, it also makes us happier.
The paradoxical truth is that selflessness is selfish. Numerous studies have proven that those who give higher amounts to charity are happier and more satisfied with their lives. In other words, nice guys do not finish last.
The Secret of Giving
Wherever we are on life’s journey—whether we have accumulated a lot or a little—we can practice generosity. Jewish law actually requires that a person give enough charity to a beggar so that the beggar himself can give to charity.
This law makes no economic sense. It would be more efficient to simply give the beggar what he needs. It does make psychological sense, however, because the ability to give brings a sense of dignity to everyone.
Joseph is the only biblical figure called hatzadik, the righteous one. His generosity was part of his righteousness, and it led him to become the Prime Minister of Egypt. He knew something all of can experience. Giving is the secret to getting ahead.
The Most Revolutionary Part of the 10 Commandments
With the passage of time, the extraordinary can become ordinary. The revolutionary can seem normal. Take trial by jury. When introduced in England, jury trail was a monumental development, and it spurned great resistance. Now we are so accustomed with the practice that we feel inconvenienced when we have to show up to serve on [...]
[continue...]The Most Revolutionary Part of the 10 Commandments by Rabbi Evan Moffic
With the passage of time, the extraordinary can become ordinary. The revolutionary can seem normal.
Take trial by jury. When introduced in England, jury trail was a monumental development, and it spurned great resistance. Now we are so accustomed with the practice that we feel inconvenienced when we have to show up to serve on a jury.
Such is the case with the Ten Commandments. We tend to take them for granted. Even pastors or rabbis who teach and preach about them can forget how revolutionary they once were. We can begin to see them as a decorations in courtrooms rather than a sacred call to live by sacred values.
What Made Them Different
One core aspect of the Ten Commandments is frequently forgotten and overlooked. It is what makes them different from other ancient codes of law. It is what made the Hebrew Bible—the Old Testament—a revolutionary document, one destined to shape the entire world.
It is the following: While other religious systems focused on how we behave toward God, the Ten Commandments centered on how we behave toward one another. Whereas Greek myth focused on how to please the Gods, the Torah teaches us how to care for one another: We shall not steal, murder or lie. We shall not covet, and we shall honor those who brought us into the world. These are the ways we honor God.
God Cares
Now the Ten Commandments do teach some matters of belief. These beliefs frame our lives as part of a much broader canvas than this world and this time.
We do not build idols because they distract us from the true God who teaches us how to live. We observe the Sabbath lest we come so caught up in this world that we forget we are part of a creation much greater than ourselves.
Though they spring from the mouth of God, the Ten Commandments convey an intensely human message. We ignore these truths, the text tells us, at our own peril.
The Choice is Ours
When we reject them, we lose our way. When we embrace them, we find blessing. And the choice rests in each of us. Our decisions as individuals shape our destiny as a community.
The Ten Commandments remind us of God’s concern for how we treat one another. By living responsibly with one another, we honor the God who is the parent and creator of us all.
Mailing address:
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The Most Revolutionary Part of the 10 Commandments by Rabbi Evan MofficWith the passage of time, the extraordinary can become ordinary. The revolutionary can seem normal.
Take trial by jury. When introduced in England, jury trail was a monumental development, and it spurned great resistance. Now we are so accustomed with the practice that we feel inconvenienced when we have to show up to serve on a jury.
Such is the case with the Ten Commandments. We tend to take them for granted. Even pastors or rabbis who teach and preach about them can forget how revolutionary they once were. We can begin to see them as a decorations in courtrooms rather than a sacred call to live by sacred values.
What Made Them Different
One core aspect of the Ten Commandments is frequently forgotten and overlooked. It is what makes them different from other ancient codes of law. It is what made the Hebrew Bible—the Old Testament—a revolutionary document, one destined to shape the entire world.
It is the following: While other religious systems focused on how we behave toward God, the Ten Commandments centered on how we behave toward one another. Whereas Greek myth focused on how to please the Gods, the Torah teaches us how to care for one another: We shall not steal, murder or lie. We shall not covet, and we shall honor those who brought us into the world. These are the ways we honor God.
God Cares
Now the Ten Commandments do teach some matters of belief. These beliefs frame our lives as part of a much broader canvas than this world and this time.
We do not build idols because they distract us from the true God who teaches us how to live. We observe the Sabbath lest we come so caught up in this world that we forget we are part of a creation much greater than ourselves.
Though they spring from the mouth of God, the Ten Commandments convey an intensely human message. We ignore these truths, the text tells us, at our own peril.
The Choice is Ours
When we reject them, we lose our way. When we embrace them, we find blessing. And the choice rests in each of us. Our decisions as individuals shape our destiny as a community.
The Ten Commandments remind us of God’s concern for how we treat one another. By living responsibly with one another, we honor the God who is the parent and creator of us all.
Mailing address:
Congregation Solel
315 Aspen Lane
Highland Park, Illinois 60035 United States
Rabbi Evan Moffic
Rabbi Evan Moffic
Congregation Solel
1301 Clavey Road
Highland Park, Illinois 60035 United States
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