My rabbinic study is filled with books. I confess I haven’t read all of them. Few people have.
Reading a book takes time and concentration. In a world of diminishing attention spans, reading has become counter-cultural.
But we do not need to beat ourselves up about it. The best readers are also the best skimmers.
In fact, I came across a book recently by a French literary scholar called How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read. (What a great title!)
He argues that reading every sentence of a book from start to finish is only one form of reading. We also skim, read reviews, hear about books from our friends and so on.
In fact, the professor argues that we have to skim some books in order to have the time to read the other ones that really shape us.
As he puts it, "I think a great reader is able to read from the first line to the last line; but if you want to do that with some books, it’s necessary to skim other books. If you want to fall in love with someone, it’s necessary to meet many people.”
That’s a powerful analogy. We can’t love with equal passion every book in the world, just as we can’t love intimately every person in the world. We just don’t have enough time.
If we want to go deep with one person or one book, we have to stay in the shallow end with others.
Life is about the choices we make. One of the best choices I made was to become a writer. A few writing courses helped along the way, including this course focused on marketing and writing. It's useful for anybody who wants to write with clarity and persuasiveness.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
Reading a book takes time and concentration. In a world of diminishing attention spans, reading has become counter-cultural.
But we do not need to beat ourselves up about it. The best readers are also the best skimmers.
In fact, I came across a book recently by a French literary scholar called How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read. (What a great title!)
He argues that reading every sentence of a book from start to finish is only one form of reading. We also skim, read reviews, hear about books from our friends and so on.
In fact, the professor argues that we have to skim some books in order to have the time to read the other ones that really shape us.
As he puts it, "I think a great reader is able to read from the first line to the last line; but if you want to do that with some books, it’s necessary to skim other books. If you want to fall in love with someone, it’s necessary to meet many people.”
That’s a powerful analogy. We can’t love with equal passion every book in the world, just as we can’t love intimately every person in the world. We just don’t have enough time.
If we want to go deep with one person or one book, we have to stay in the shallow end with others.
Life is about the choices we make. One of the best choices I made was to become a writer. A few writing courses helped along the way, including this course focused on marketing and writing. It's useful for anybody who wants to write with clarity and persuasiveness.
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
Congregation Solel
1301 Clavey Road
Highland Park, Illinois 60035, United States
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The Day The Internet Went Dark for Thursday, 2 March 2017 with Rabbi Evan Moffic of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois, United States
I had an online conference call at noon on Tuesday. The technology is usually seamless. But everyone was having problems. We could not log in and see one another.
Soon we had to resort to good old fashioned technology—the telephone! Then we learned what happened.
Several online data centers owned by Amazon had lost power. Other websites relying on those data centers also went down.
Even www.isitdownrightnow.com, a popular website used to tell whether other sites are down, was affected.
Amazon, it seems,—along with the entire Internet— has become too big to fail. What does that mean for us? What does it mean for the millions of businesses around the world who rely on it for their livelihood and security?
These are big questions. Sometimes it’s hard to believe the Internet is only 26 years old. Its reach and influence are still expanding, exponentially.
So are the dangers it presents. The bigger the fire, the more warmth it creates…along with the more damage it can cause.
Two things: we should remember that technology is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. And we should continue to develop skills and ways of supporting ourselves not dependent on technology.
Writing is one of those skills. A great copywriter I know—Ray Edwards—just announced a new course he is teaching.
It is not for everybody. It is mostly for people who have a business and want to improve their writing/marketing skills. But as I rabbi, I have benefited from it, as have some pastors and nonprofit leaders I know.
Here’s a way you can learn more about the course and get a few free lessons along the way.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
Soon we had to resort to good old fashioned technology—the telephone! Then we learned what happened.
Several online data centers owned by Amazon had lost power. Other websites relying on those data centers also went down.
Even www.isitdownrightnow.com, a popular website used to tell whether other sites are down, was affected.
Amazon, it seems,—along with the entire Internet— has become too big to fail. What does that mean for us? What does it mean for the millions of businesses around the world who rely on it for their livelihood and security?
These are big questions. Sometimes it’s hard to believe the Internet is only 26 years old. Its reach and influence are still expanding, exponentially.
So are the dangers it presents. The bigger the fire, the more warmth it creates…along with the more damage it can cause.
Two things: we should remember that technology is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. And we should continue to develop skills and ways of supporting ourselves not dependent on technology.
Writing is one of those skills. A great copywriter I know—Ray Edwards—just announced a new course he is teaching.
It is not for everybody. It is mostly for people who have a business and want to improve their writing/marketing skills. But as I rabbi, I have benefited from it, as have some pastors and nonprofit leaders I know.
Here’s a way you can learn more about the course and get a few free lessons along the way.
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
Congregation Solel
1301 Clavey Road
Highland Park, Illinois 60035, United States
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Do You Need a New Filter? for Wednesday, 1 March 2017 with Evan Moffic of The Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois, United States
In 2010 Google CEO chairman Eric Schmidt said that more information is created in 48 hours today than was produced from the dawn of civilization through 2003.
Yes, that’s right. And he said that in 2010! Imagine it now, with smart phones and social media.
How do we handle so much information? Well, computers and algorithms filter and present it to us. Just think of your GPS. It sifts through billions of pieces of data to give you the right route.
A GPS is a geographic filter. And it’s just one of the many we use.
Filters cut through the noise and deliver us the information we need.
The challenge is finding the right filters. Each filter—like a newspaper or a radio station—has its own agenda. National Public Radio has its own filter, and so does Fox News.
That is not necessarily bad. It is simply the way media works, and I prefer it to some overall government filter using the power of the state to control what information is delivered.
Ultimately, however, we have to choose our filters. And that is challenging.
It takes work. It takes experience. It takes trust.
I hope to be a spiritual filter for you, delivering Jewish wisdom to enrich your life, whatever your background or faith.
And the Bible remains the filter for truth about the world we cannot see… The world filled with God’s presence. The one we cannot touch, but which fills our souls with grace and love.
Books are a filter for wisdom and knowledge. You can pick up my newest one, which is available right here.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
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Do You Need a New Filter? for Wednesday, 1 March 2017 with Evan Moffic of The Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Illinois, United States
In 2010 Google CEO chairman Eric Schmidt said that more information is created in 48 hours today than was produced from the dawn of civilization through 2003.
Yes, that’s right. And he said that in 2010! Imagine it now, with smart phones and social media.
How do we handle so much information? Well, computers and algorithms filter and present it to us. Just think of your GPS. It sifts through billions of pieces of data to give you the right route.
A GPS is a geographic filter. And it’s just one of the many we use.
Filters cut through the noise and deliver us the information we need.
The challenge is finding the right filters. Each filter—like a newspaper or a radio station—has its own agenda. National Public Radio has its own filter, and so does Fox News.
That is not necessarily bad. It is simply the way media works, and I prefer it to some overall government filter using the power of the state to control what information is delivered.
Ultimately, however, we have to choose our filters. And that is challenging.
It takes work. It takes experience. It takes trust.
I hope to be a spiritual filter for you, delivering Jewish wisdom to enrich your life, whatever your background or faith.
And the Bible remains the filter for truth about the world we cannot see… The world filled with God’s presence. The one we cannot touch, but which fills our souls with grace and love.
Books are a filter for wisdom and knowledge. You can pick up my newest one, which is available right here.
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
Congregation Solel
1301 Clavey Road
Highland Park, Illinois 60035, United States
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