The Happiness Prayer With Rabbi Evan Moffic

Jason Hartman kicks off this 10th episode discussing the furthering trend of people fleeing high tax places like California and New York to tax favorable places such as Florida and Texas. It’s becoming a more and more common thing and states need to understand this before they run into even more fiscal difficulties.


Then Jason goes off-topic with client Rabbi Evan Moffic, author of The Happiness Prayer: Ancient Jewish Wisdom for the Best Way to Live Today. The two discuss why the bible actually promotes wealth (and what we should DO with that wealth), as well as what gives people true happiness.

Jason Hartman 0:00

From the initial market recommendation from yourself matures and it’s a proxy right through to the leasing process with the property manager. Everyone has been just totally professional and the communication is excellent, especially with being such a long distance away.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 0:15

Welcome to the creating wealth show with Jason Hartman. You’re about to learn a new slant on investing some exciting techniques and fresh new approaches to the world’s most historically proven asset class that will enable you to create more wealth and freedom than you ever thought possible. Jason is a genuine self made multi millionaire who’s actually been there and done it. He’s a successful investor, lender, developer and entrepreneur who’s owned properties in 11 states had hundreds of tenants and been involved in thousands of real estate transactions. This program will help you follow in Jason’s footsteps on the road to your financial independence day. You really can do it on now. Here’s your host Jason Hartman with the complete solution for real estate investors.

Jason Hartman 1:05

Welcome to Episode 12 61,260. Thank you so much for joining me today. Today we have our client, Rabbi Evan Moffitt on the show. This is a 10th episode. So we’re going to talk about something of general interest, but I have a little bit of real estate stuff for you first, so hang on for that. But today, the main topic of our 10th episode today will be the happiness prayer for investors, the happiness prayer for investors. So see, it always ties back to success and financial security, and this one even income property. But before that, I actually want to talk to you about another one of my predictions actually coming true. They don’t all come through but most of them do actually. You know, this is where I talked before about how, you know, of course, when you attack something, you get less of it. And if you subsidize something, you get more of it. And this is yet another example, I predicted that people would be fleeing the high tech states and New York, just like California, these Socialist Republics are making it you know, they’re just incentivizing the wrong behavior every time you turn around. And so this article and the accompanying video I’m going to play the video for you and comment on it a bit. It’s entitled Florida, my new home state for a little over a year now. Florida is raking in billions of dollars as Americans abandon high tax states. Now remember, we had Meredith Whitney on several years ago, and that episode, of course, all this stuff by the way, are you using the Search Engine enough? No, not that famous search engine you’ve all heard of that is abusing your privacy and in trouble in Europe and the US, thankfully. Not that one, the search engine at Jason Hartman, calm Are you using that? Because when I reference something like this, you should say, Hey, you know, I want to go back and listen to that Meredith Whitney interview that Jason did a couple years ago. So I’m going to go to Jason Hartman calm. I’m going to use the search bar at the top of the website, and I’m going to type in Meredith Whitney or the state of the states and listen to that very prescient interview, very telling about what’s happening. But this is more of it. Without further ado, I’ll just play some of this video for you. And let’s see what’s happening. Now this is from this is from the most trusted name in news. And he starts out by talking about how New York imposed this mansion tax right for anyone Home over a million dollars. And again, perverting the markets. screwing it all up. The news anchor says, Well, a lot of homes are going to be selling for $999,999. Right? Just to come in under the $1 million threshold that triggers the mansion tax. So here we go.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 4:23

Tax went into effect on July one, which levies a one time fee and home purchases of a million bucks or more going to be a lot of homes selling for $999,000. Joining us now is Samantha up on key DPRK real estate Samantha glad to see it. Good to see this. This has got to be pushing more New Yorkers to Florida right?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 4:43

Well, of course, of course, I’m going to say that and of course I’m very i don’t i don’t think

Rabbi Evan Moffic 4:47

there’s any question it would. But

Rabbi Evan Moffic 4:50

right, we have the highest population migration between states, which is no news, but it’s going to continue to get stronger between New York and Florida and 2018 Oh, loan, we’ve seen over 63,000 people move to Florida. So those are very big numbers and on top of that, the people from the northeast are driving our home sales. So as opposed to last year nationwide, we saw a decrease from 1% nationwide from home home sales. But in Miami Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties, we actually saw home sales increase anywhere from 3.9% to 6.66%. And that is because of all of our New Yorkers coming down here sunny South

Rabbi Evan Moffic 5:31

Florida. On the other hand, Samantha I’m sure you saw that Wall Street Journal piece saying that price of real estate is going down in Miami Beach because people are fed up with the the crowds with the noise etc. What’s your response to that?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 5:44

I mean, look, that’s what happens when you have a world class city, whether it’s here you have Paris, New York City, Sydney, Toronto, you know, when you eat

Rabbi Evan Moffic 5:55

more people go to Miami Beach to chill, they don’t come to New York to chill

Rabbi Evan Moffic 6:00

Come on, maybe you But come on, have some fun. Enjoy the nightlife, the entertainment, the dining, the restaurants, whatever it is, I mean, it is what it is. But what I will say something to look out for is the amount of time from a home that’s listed to home that has sold that has been slowing down slightly in Miami Dade County, that time period from last year has increased by 34%. And that might be because these people from let’s say, New York, they’re trying to sell their properties and it’s taking a bit more time maybe they need to sell before they buy or something to that extent. Maybe they don’t truly realize the tax benefits that we have here in Florida. But you know, I think later on this year, we’re going to see those numbers increase from that 63,000 to quite a few more.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 6:45

You know, I went to New York to chill.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 6:48Oh, come on me.

Jason Hartman 6:49

So Isn’t that interesting? You know, one of my friends just did this moved from New York to Florida, from Brooklyn to Tampa. And it is amazing how much the quality of one’s life improves. And that’s the oddity. You know, I look at the quality of my own life and how I lived in a really great place in California, Orange County, California, V OC, otherwise known as orange on the Riviera, a really high end place. And moving in 2011 to Arizona when I crossed that state line. I remember doing it and I remember seeing the sign as I was driving that night when I moved, seeing the sign and thinking my state income taxes just dropped by 69%. It was a 69% difference from the state tax I was paying in California to the state tax I would be paying in Arizona. a phenomenal difference, not to mention that the cost of Living as lower, the crowds are much more mundane, you know, just a very easy place to live, I really did enjoy living in Arizona quite a bit, you’ll find a parking space, the government in states that are better managed than, say New York and California is not predatory on its citizens. I mean, basically, in California, you have this environment, you’ll hear people complaining about it all the time, where every year they’re instituting a bunch of new laws, right. And we’ve talked about that over the years. You know, it’s January 1, there’s 863 new laws in the state of California. And so many of those laws are designed literally, to increase revenue, to increase fines to make things illegal, that were not previously illegal, so that the state can collect more money. The states that are broke that are poorly managed. They basically become predatory on their citizens. It is not pleasant when a government is starving for money. And that’s the kind of thing you see. So New York Institute’s this mansion tax, people are fleeing, there’s already with a new tax bill because of the salt the state and local taxes, Sal t taxes, only being deductible to $10,000 per year now, I mean, if you own a high end home in New York or California, or any other place for that matter, but I’m just using those example because there’s expensive real estate markets, and you know, you’re paying property tax on it. And then you want to buy something with a mortgage for more than $750,000. We talked about that, under the new tax law will pay it’s not so new anymore. It’s been over a year and a half, but you get the idea. I mean, the incentive is to leave these places and really it’s counterintuitive improve the quality of one’s life when they leave these places, you would think, you know, the general thinking would be that when something is more expensive, it’s better, when a place to live is more expensive, it’s going to be a better place to live. But that’s not necessarily true. That’s not necessarily true. Now, of course, there are some really good things about places like New York and California, that you don’t get other places I get it, but on the whole, it’s just a much better deal. Okay. And again, I want to encourage people listening, if you live in one of these places, as I did, for so many years, make it a plan, make it a you know, maybe it’s not something you can do soon, but make it a plan to in the future, to move your life out of there. make your life a little more portable, so you’re not as tied down so you have some flexibility so you can move get yourself into a lower tax rate environment. Think about this, if you live in California, and you pay that highest state tax rate of what is it 13.3% or some crazy? I mean, in addition to your federal taxes, it’s absolutely insanity. Right? Think about it, if you move to another state, and you can accumulate wealth at a rate of 13% more every year, wow, over the course of five years, 10 years, 20 years, you’re going to be dramatically better off. And of course, all your other expenses will be much lower to and you may not go above that $10,000 a year limit of the salt tax deduction on your federal tax return. So this is very significant. Okay, let’s just finish up the video and we’ll be on to our 10th show guests will talk to the rabbi here.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 11:54

It could be the best of both worlds because at the same time that New York is making it tougher to live in The prices are getting even more inviting down in Florida so it could be the perfect combination of buyer and seller.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 12:06

Right, exactly. I mean, now’s a great time to buy for anyone whether you’re in the luxury market or a first time homebuyer, I mean with rates as low as they are. Prices, I think are slowly coming down a bit, which, you know, it’s a win win for everyone. And it’s a market that we generally don’t see where sellers can make money if they’re priced correctly, and buyers can really get a good deal and lock in great mortgage rates.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 12:28

Samantha, you make a great case. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it.

Jason Hartman 12:32

So she alluded to the softening market on the middle and higher end, certainly not softening in the lower end. inventories still very scarce. You know, again, as we’ve talked about so many times, coming out of the Great Recession, the builders have just not been building affordable homes. And it’s funny because one of our contractors, who does some good work for us on the YouTube channel. He I left me a message the other day. And you know, he’s he’s a younger guy, maybe you met him at meet the masters. And he said, Well, you know, all of us millennials, we want to buy homes. Why don’t the builders build homes, you know, in the lower price ranges and the starter home price ranges? And I said, Well, why would they it’s not economical. You know, it’s just not economical for them. Believe me, if they saw an opportunity there, and they could make the economics work and afford to build those homes, they build them like crazy, but the cost of construction is so much higher, the cost of land is so much higher. You know, there’s just a huge shortage in that entry level market, the market in which we like to invest and you like to invest all of you listening, like to invest. So that’s going to Bode very well for you in the coming years. Of course it already has, because there’s just no new construction competing with your product. I mean, when I say no, I mean hardly any new In the big scheme of things almost non existent, statistically insignificant amount of new homes in the lower bread and butter, entry level price ranges, there are a few but very, very small number when you look at it on an aggregate basis. Okay, without further ado, let’s get to our client, the rabbi Evan mafic. As he talks about the happiness prayer for investors, here we go. It’s my pleasure to welcome Rabbi Evan Moffitt to the show. He is the author of several books including the happiness prayer, ancient Jewish wisdom, for the best way to live today. Evan, welcome. How are you? I’m great, Jason, how are you? Good, good. It’s good to have you. And this is a bit of an impromptu interview. I have to say we connected a few days ago. And you told me you were coming to look at one of the properties you’re buying through our network. I didn’t realize you are an author and you are first rabbika client, I believe. So that’s just awesome. And so you have a lot to say about the scriptures and what they can teach us about happiness, of course, and prosperity actually as well, right? Absolutely. I mean, one of the things, I know a lot of your clients, they’re successful professionals, they’ve perhaps made some money or make a little bit more money. But we’re all looking for kind of happiness, right? And anyone who’s been around the block a few times know that money doesn’t equal happiness. I mean, it’s nice to have, of course, you’d rather be rich than poor, but it’s not the end all and be all right. And by the way, I want to tell you, I’ll second that motion. I just think money gives you a better chance at happiness than poverty, but it does not make you happy. In fact, in some ways, depending on how complicated Your life is money, really, it’s kind of a burden to like, keep it because you become a target. Yeah, you know, that’s kind of how I feel like everyone’s taking shots at me. You know, competitors, and it’s a chore. You know, I’ll be the first to admit, but it does allow you a lot of freedom and a lot of choices. Exactly.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 16:08

I mean, people, I’m sure when you were starting off as a realtor, I mean, we haven’t talked about this before, but you were probably successful pretty quickly and pretty young. And I imagine that there were older realtors who’ve been in the business who probably were a little jealous.

Jason Hartman 16:20

Totally, yeah.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 16:22

Huge issues. And that’s just natural. That’s human emotion. Yeah,

Jason Hartman 16:26

yeah, it is no question about it. I mean, they used to have it my REMAX office where I work. They used to have meetings about me, all the old jealous realtors who didn’t work very hard. They were thinking that I must be doing something to get all this business, I must be cutting my commission. That’s what they thought I was doing. Right. I was a commission cutter and I was just undercutting everybody to get people to list their homes with me. And of course, that wasn’t true. But they have to justify it to themselves to make themselves feel better. Right. Well, yeah.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 16:55

And you know, I mean, we’re not talking politics strictly today, but it actually in a free market people happier people, when you have opportunities to work hard and produce your Actually, there are all kinds of studies about this, you’re actually in a much happier place. It’s when things are, you know, driven by kind of laziness and, you know, protected unions kinds of status. And there’s incentive to work hard. People are not happy, they’re miserable. They get jealous of everyone else.

Jason Hartman 17:22

Yeah, you know, that’s a funny thing to what’s not. It’s a tragic thing, actually. But people in environments like government jobs or in socialist or communist countries, you know, I think of it like this race horses, they want to run. That’s what they do. And humans, they’re creators. Humans are creative, you know, all of them. I mean, I’m not just talking about creative people as we dubbed them, but just all people are creative beings. And if you don’t get to create, you’re just not going to be as fulfilled,

Rabbi Evan Moffic 17:53

right. I mean, this is a religious idea. I mean, God begins the world with creation, creating heavens in the earth. And essentially one of the Jewish interpretations when it says God created human beings in God’s image, what does that mean for the rabbi’s interpreting it say it means man is a creative being, that we can create, we create children, we create art, we create a civilization we produce there. I mean, there’s actually this whole interesting, you know, notion of in Judaism, what is human nature? Is it is it good? Or is it evil? And they say, well, it’s actually both. But if we didn’t have the evil inclination, we didn’t have rest of instinct we produced fact when we’re creative when we produce we’re actually happier because we’re taking that energy that could be used for aggression and for war and turning it into something productive.

Jason Hartman 18:41

Hmm, that’s interesting. So what is the happiness prayer then? I mean, this is a Jewish tradition. What is it? Just pray for happiness? God, please make me happy or I mean, what do you mean?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 18:51

I actually coined the phrase to happiness prayer. It’s a prayer. It comes from the Talmud. So the Talmud is sort of like the second most important book Judaism, it’s kind of commentary on the Torah, okay? And the happiness prayer is a list of actions that these Jewish sages 2000 years ago, many of them were contemporaries of Jesus, these sages believed that these actions would lead to a happier life. Things like study, learning, kindness, acts of kindness, hospitality, you know, welcoming people into your homes, being with people in times of need. I mean, one of the most important as a rabbi, I probably conduct one funeral a week. And I see that friends, people showing up for a funeral really means something, no matter how old someone is, when somebody dies, their survivors are in pain. Yeah, just be here is such a great deed. And so these kind of religious commandments actions that the rabbi said, ultimately lead us to a happier life. Notice it’s happiness, not pleasure. Pleasure, yes or gift.

Jason Hartman 20:00

I’m so glad you mentioned that because so many people in our culture and throughout the ages I’m sure confuse hedonism with happiness. Like when I become successful when I get rich, I’ll be able to have pleasure all the time.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 20:16

That life sucks. You become a disaster. Anybody who has too much hedonism, you’ve talked about buying a boat buying a Tesla. They seem great at the time, but ultimately, they don’t bring that much happiness. Yeah,

Jason Hartman 20:28

no, in fact, they bring a lot of extra hassles. I had two Tesla’s The second one was an absolute lemon. And the boat Well, just a boat by the name of vote boathook. VOA t means bring on another thousand. We’re throwing money in the water all the time. It’s terrible. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, okay, so so in the in the book, you talk about the structure, right. And I think you just alluded to some of these things, but I want to just go over all of them right. The prayer begins with a statement of purpose, a financial metaphor. Actions represent investment of our time. The interest on this investment is our happiness. That’s so interesting. don’t comment yet. But it’s like, the happiness is just the interest. It’s not the investment itself. It’s the interest on the investment that’s really interesting, like financial interest it compounds. In other words, the longer we follow these lessons, the more our happiness grows. And then you talk about how to find happiness in this world and peace in the world to come. Learning these wisdom practices. honor those who gave you life. Be kind, keep learning. invite others into your life. Be there when others need you. Celebrate good times, support yourself and others during times of loss. You certainly just talked about that. Pray with intention. Forgive, look inside and commit. Yeah, that sounds like great advice. What do you want to elaborate on there?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 21:59That’s elaborate on the first point about the financial metaphor? It’s really true. I when you were just reading it again, I was thinking about real estate in some ways. Who likes all the whole process of qualifying for a mortgage? I mean, who I can’t stand

Jason Hartman 22:14

out. It’s so much fun. Just getting

Rabbi Evan Moffic 22:19

actually think that probably turns off a lot of people. Oh, it does. Yeah. But once you do it, then look at the benefits, you get these low interest rates for 30 years. Yeah.

Jason Hartman 22:27

And it gets easier every time. You know. Yeah. Because you just know how to do it.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 22:31

And I think that that is true in life in our deeds, you know, in any job. You have to put in a lot of work, especially initially. I mean, you always have to work hard. You put in that work, and then over time you see the fruits of your investment of your labor. I mean, parenting is like that, too. You know, you the early years are really tough. You know, there’s been studies of happiness of parents, their happiness declines for about 18 years.

Jason Hartman 22:57

You’re not convincing me to be a dad with that. Kind of speech but okay.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 23:02

It’s really tough. Men, you’re happier in the long run. They’re actually conflicting studies about this, that some people are more miserable. But there is something about that pleasure is short of short term, getting a massage, having a great meal. And that’s, we need that. But happiness is looking back at your life and saying, I’m proud of what I did. I’m satisfied how I lived.

Jason Hartman 23:23

Yeah, I would like to go back to the creative metaphor. You know, I think happiness is about what you create. You know, I remember years ago, reading a Christian book by Stuart Weber. It was it was a men’s book, and I can’t remember exactly what he said. But it was just, it was so poetic and brilliant. It really influenced me and I remember it this day, and he talks about like, a man’s purpose in life is to leave a legacy, not a monument. And then iron Rand, interestingly, who was a devout atheist, which I think she’s kind of crazy for that But I love her work otherwise, she has an essay called the monument builders in her book the virtue of selfishness, which is a great essay, and it talks about how all these dictators and you know, people throughout history, you know, they build monuments to themselves, right, Kim Jong Hoon and Kim Jong Il, and Stalin and Lenin and Hitler and you know, all the rest of them, right? They all build monuments to themselves, rather than leaving this legacy of a better world, right. Obviously, those people are quite evil that I mentioned, but it’s, it’s creating something that goes on, Denis waitley said a great he said, plant a shade tree under which you know, you’ll never set

Rabbi Evan Moffic 24:39

Yes, well, there’s a Jewish story. I’ve used it in sermons. And it’s a story about a guy who is planting a tree, but he’s an old man, he’s 70 years old, according this, this is a music story. So

Jason Hartman 24:51

why bother here? 70 you’re not going to be here to enjoy. Right?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 24:54

Exactly. The kid says that to them. And the old man says, Well, when I came into the world ancestors had planted trees for me. So I’m leaving trees for my descendants. And it’s true. And you know, I asked myself, you’ve talked about the fire movement, financial independence, retire early. There’s some great tips in that. But the truth is, I know so many people who could have afforded to retire 1015 years ago, and they still work hard, they still because there’s something wonderful and meaningful about being creative about adding value. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the power. I mean, so. Okay, so there’s some status issues, you all likes to make some extra money for travel and things like that. But that’s not the motivating

Jason Hartman 25:32

yours might be. It’s not the thing that’s really going to motivate you long term. You know, you might want to make some money. Certainly, we’ve all got egos. There’s a little bit of ego gratification. There’s a little bit of like, Oh, I love that I’m winning the race. Right. But long term, that stuff is hollow. I think that tends to influence us more when we’re young, especially young males, you know, when you’re like in your early 20s, all you want to do is conquer the world, right? But when you get a little older and more mature, that change And hopefully, hopefully we figured out

Rabbi Evan Moffic 26:03

some people don’t know some people, we all know people who are in their 50s and 60s who name drop all the time. You know, I know this person, I know that person. And you kind of feel sorry for them. Yes, they’re just they identify themselves. And I think that that having a faith tradition, whether it’s Judaism or Christianity, you actually see yourself in a larger context. You’ve talked about context versus content. This is the broader context of our lives. Are we here simply for ourselves? Or are we part of a chain of tradition? Are we connected to the people who came before us and the people who will come after us? And then when we see our lives in that broader context, we make different choices. That’s where Iran is so interesting and important, but she was a militant atheist. She told me she was militant. Yes. Even though she was born Jewish, actually, in the former union. Very interesting person.

Jason Hartman 26:53

Yeah, very. She was definitely an interesting character. No question I love a lot of her work is just awesome. Okay, so more on the happy Prayer. What else? Do you want people to know? Maybe an action step to, you know, what do we do? Is this just a conceptual framework or

Rabbi Evan Moffic 27:07

it’s all action? Yeah, it’s all action. I mean, that’s one of the reasons in Judaism. deed is more important than creed. What you do is more important than what you believe. And these are all actions, like, for example, kindness, that that’s been my focus, you know, kindness. There’s this scientist, University of Pennsylvania, Martin Seligman. He basically invented the field of positive psychology and said, when you’re feeling down, the best thing to do is to do something kind for another person. He said, not only does it make you happier in the short term, but also in the long term, you something. And that may sound cliche ish, but it’s true. Yeah. And so, kindness and you know, in real estate, this is another thing that your reputation is everything, right? I mean, when we buy real estate, that that’s already been rehabbed, or so forth, we oftentimes, you know, you don’t do these cutthroat negotiations. There is a sense of kindness like there’s doing business together. There’s Christ, and doing something for another person builds deeper ties that ultimately make us happier and more successful in the long run. Kindness is one of those things, I’ve often asked myself, why aren’t we more kind to other people? And I think it is sort of, we live in this competitive society. So when you’re a high powered attorney, you’re going up against somebody, you don’t want to be perceived as weak. So you’re not as kind as we could be. Kindness also makes us vulnerable. I remember when my daughter, she started a new school. And she went up to a kid on the playground the first day during lunch and said, Hi, you know, I’d like to be your friend. And the kid turned away and said, No. And now I think to myself, my daughter will never go up to another kid again. Even though nine times out of 10 that’s a good way to open a conversation, but makes us vulnerable. So we avoid it. Nobody wants to miss rejection. So I think if we can take concrete steps to just, you know, it sounds cliche, but it’s true, do kind for another person, visit somebody who’s been Ill call somebody experienced a loss doesn’t take much time and it’s really meaningful. Yeah,

Jason Hartman 29:04

yeah, absolutely. It is. And you know, I’ll tell you, you are so right. Whenever you are feeling, I don’t think it’s even possible to feel down or depressed when you’re doing something for other people. You know, I remember years ago, I was having a tough time, I was feeling pretty depressed about some things. And I was a Junior Achievement instructor and I had volunteered in their program for like three and a half years or so. And they had a special program, where they said, you can go and teach Junior Achievement inside juvenile hall. So I went to juvenile hall to jail, okay to teach Junior Achievement for the kids in there. That was just an awesome experience. I mean, I did it in the normal classroom to you know, that was fine, but it was really, I think, much more impactful, teaching it in juvenile hall. So you know, you would go in like, I think I went in, maybe like once a week for a few weeks or something and taught the classes to the kids in juvenile hall. And it was awesome. That was really fulfilling, I hope, although I don’t know, but I hope I really changed some lives and got some of those kids on the right track.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 30:14

I mean, it’s amazing. You never know. I mean, that’s that idea that, you know, one action leads to another pay it forward. It’s true. I think that kindness is so essential. The other thing that I find very powerful is this idea of lifelong learning the exact Hebrew in the happiness prayer is visit the house of study, morning and evening. I think that is something people who read who travel books, more of life are happier. I read somewhere that our brain stopped growing at age 25. Yeah, we can build new connections, different parts of our brain. And so getting traveling experience that builds new connections, it builds empathy, we can understand other people’s situations, a better by trap. So that actually makes us happier. Because we have a range of human emotions, and we’re also more educated, more successful, I mean, one of the principles of Judaism and I think of the Bible. I mean, we all we can read the Bible in certain ways. But I do think the Bible is a very sort of pro wealth teaching because it teaches us that when we produce and we create, we serve others, we’re actually building wealth and building human connection, I mean, wealth connection, go together. I mean, in Israel today, Israel’s the seventh happiest country in all the world. And second, most companies on the NASDAQ exchange outside of United States in China, behind the United States.

Jason Hartman 31:38

And when I was in Israel, I gotta tell you, that is such an amazing place because it’s got enemies on every side. If that can be considered one of the happiest countries and look at the success of that little tiny country. That’s pretty amazing. I mean, can’t we have that happiness we don’t have that kind of adversity, but maybe the adversity is what creates the happiness right?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 32:01

Without question. Nobody wants adversity but sort of forces it clarifies your choices. Human beings are in some ways defined by how you respond moments of crisis.

Jason Hartman 32:13

It’ll it shows us what we’re made of, you know, one of my favorite quotes, and I can’t remember who said it, but people are like tea bags. You can never tell how strong they are until you put them in some hot water. Very good. Yeah. Like that one. Yeah,

Rabbi Evan Moffic 32:28

yeah, we don’t want that situation. But you know what i found life. It always happens, you know, you fight it. Anybody who goes through life, you’re going to experience downs, you’re going to experience a loss, you’re going to experience time

Jason Hartman 32:41

and succeed. And the more you try to do, the bigger the risk you take, the more failure you’re going to have, you know, if you just work in a toll booth, okay. And don’t try to do anything in life and don’t make any waves. Yeah, you’ll have a peaceful life, but you also won’t get to create much. So those people who are You know, in the arena as the saying goes, right?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 33:02

Yes. And it has to have a balance. I mean, one thing I hope to talk about in future Solomon success shows is this idea of the Sabbath. I think the Sabbath is something that you know, is begins in Judaism, but can help people of all faiths so deeply, you know, six days of the week we’re producing, we’re constantly creating and doing something right. But on one day, we can just sit and appreciate and see if there’s a kind of balance I have found that I can get more done in six days than I could in seven. That that rest that’s stepping back that perspective reminds us of what the work is all about.

Jason Hartman 33:38

And do you not use electricity or technology during that time? Do you really celebrate it or lighting candles and everything?

Rabbi Evan Moffic 33:45

Well, we like candles. Yeah, we like candles. We have a meal together. I’m not as good at electronics. I mean, I’m addicted to my phone. As we all are, you’re good. You better sometimes I’ll test myself and make sure that I can like I have gone date without it. I justify it to myself as well. There might be an emergency in my congregation and they’ll have to reach me so I can’t really turn off my phone. Right. But I definitely tried to take a different perspective on one thing. I try not to spend money. That’s one thing.

Jason Hartman 34:11

Yeah. You know, we’re all we spend one week one day without commerce, right? Yeah,

Rabbi Evan Moffic 34:16

yeah. There’s something beautiful about that. And it actually makes you appreciate even more a world of commerce a world of trade, you know, you take break, it’s

Jason Hartman 34:26

celebrating the Sabbath, although I don’t do it. Kind of reminds me of throws Walden. Right. Henry David Thoreau went to Walden. And you know, that’s a classic book, obviously. And the way he describes the incredible detail of nature and just his experiences were, and again, I’m terrible with this. I don’t practice it, but I can appreciate it from afar. I need to do that at some point in my life.

Rabbi Evan Moffic 34:51

We’re doing this back and refresh Jason,

Jason Hartman 34:53

not much. Not much. I tried to take a little easy on weekends, and You know, sort of do more reading and things like that and just quiet time, but I think it’s important to do that. It really is, you know,

Rabbi Evan Moffic 35:07

our society doesn’t encourage it. I mean, you know, there is a kind of sense. I mean, one of the reasons I wrote the happiness prayer is something like every one of us sees at least 3000 commercials a day. And what it count is commercials like seeing a car, right, seeing that logo on the back. The basic premise of every commercial is you need this, you buy it, you’ll be happier. Yeah. And to say, Actually, let’s say that’s really not true. Here’s what truly leads to happiness. One of the reasons I wrote the book because I would prefer capitalism and consumerism to everything else, but it’s not a key for happiness. Right?

Jason Hartman 35:40

Yeah, good point. Good point. There’s definitely a balance. Wrap it up for a seven on the happiness prayer, you know, any action steps especially that you can share with our audience, and give out your website to

Rabbi Evan Moffic 35:53

the website is Rabbi ouray BBI mafic m o ff ic.com. I think the most Important Action Point, especially for real estate investors is to show kindness to build relationships. It you’ve heard, we’ve all heard that real estate is relationship business. And it really is true. I mean, I’ve, I’ve formed relationships with some of the local providers that you’ve referred us to form relationships with my investment counselor. And that makes a big difference and lifelong learning. I mean, you’ve got five days a week of this podcast. So take advantage of that and learn. I mean, even if you’re not investing with the network, you’re you’re learning so much just by listening. So that makes us happier.

Jason Hartman 36:31

Good stuff. Good stuff. Rabbi Evan Moffitt, thank you so much for joining us. The book is the happiness prayer. You got some other great books out there? And they’re available in all the usual places and thanks again. Thanks, Jason. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss any episodes. Be sure to check out the show’s specific website and our general website Hartman. Mediacom for appropriate disclaimers and Terms of Service. Remember that guest opinions Are their own. And if you require specific legal or tax advice or advice and any other specialized area, please consult an appropriate professional. And we also very much appreciate you reviewing the show. Please go to iTunes or Stitcher Radio or whatever platform you’re using can write a review for the show we would very much appreciate that. And be sure to make it official and subscribe so you do not miss any episodes. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode.