An expert on modern Israel, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie has written widely on issues of peace and security in Israel.

He also is a pioneer in interfaith relations who has addressed both the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the convention of the Islamic Society of North America.

Yoffie will present Yearning for Values, Leadership and God on October 30 at Elmhurst College. His talk is part of the Abraham Joshua Heschel lecture series.

Rabbi Yoffie is the president emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the congregational arm of the Reform Jewish Movement in North America. The URJ represents 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 900 synagogues across the United States and Canada.

As president, Rabbi Yoffie led the Reform Movement in exciting new directions, moving congregational life toward greater attention to Torah study and adult literacy. He spearheaded a major expansion of the URJ’s summer camping program, and in 2005 he introduced the Sacred Choices curriculum to teach sexual ethics to teens in camps and congregations. Yoffie currently writes on Israel for the newspapers Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post.

Yoffie’s talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 30, in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are available online or at the door. For more information, call (630) 617-3390.