MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 5, 2009 – Rabbi Steve Greenberg will present “Civil Law and Sacred Text,” the 2009 Samuel Schick Lecture, on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Tippie Alumni Center on the Allegheny College campus. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be followed at 8:30 p.m. by a screening and discussion of “And Thou Shalt Love,” a short documentary film about gay Orthodox Jews.
As the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Greenberg has worked toward gay inclusion in both the civil and the religious frames. In his lecture, he will share his radical and his pragmatic solutions to the conflict between traditional Judaism and homosexuality as a way of clarifying the role of religious thought in helping democracies address complex moral issues.
A senior teaching fellow at CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Greenberg is a popular speaker on issues of faith, sexuality and tradition. He received the Koret Book Award for Philosophy and Thought for his book “Wrestling with God & Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition.”
The Samuel Schick Lecture Series is supported by a gift from the Barry and Florence Friedberg Family Philanthropic Fund.
Greenberg will also participate in a lunch discussion on “The Environment and Social Change” on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 12:15 p.m. in Room 206 of the Henderson Campus Center. The discussion also will include Eric Pallant, professor of environmental science at Allegheny, and Jane Ellen Nickell, college chaplain. Lunch will be provided, but space is limited and registration is required by Nov. 10. To register, call (814) 332-2800 or email barmstro@allegheny.edu.
In anticipation of Greenberg’s visit, the documentary film “Trembling Before G-d,” which features personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, will be presented on Monday, Nov. 9 at 8:30 p.m. in Quigley Hall auditorium. The film includes Greenberg’s story.
Greenberg’s visit is part of Allegheny College’s Year of Social Change, a series of activities, workshops and public events aimed at inspiring the campus and community to seek a more just and equitable world.
For more information, contact the Allegheny College Office of Religious Life at (814) 332-2800 or barmstro@allegheny.edu.
