The first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Steven Greenberg, will visit Portland State University Wednesday for a lecture, book signing and question-and-answer session kicking off a series of Portland-area events he will be attending this week.
The lecture will focus on the issue of gay marriage, but will also touch on broader ideas pertaining to the question of how religions can adjust to modernity, according to Aaron Pearlman, community outreach director for Judaic studies at PSU. The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom as part of the yearly Gus and Libby Solomon Lecture Series.
“We were looking for speakers who push the envelope and are interesting and dynamic [and] have a little bit of a name for themselves,” Pearlman said. “He fit all of those criteria.”
This is the second year of the lecture series, which is “dedicated to exploring the American Jewish experience and the ideals of social justice,” according to Pearlman. He said Greenberg is a good person to represent those ideals.
“He’s really out there as one of the only people speaking publicly on the issue and still remaining involved in the Orthodox community,” Pearlman said.
Rabbi Greenberg serves as a senior educator for The National Center for Learning and Leadership in New York. In 1993 he wrote an article, “Gayness and God: Wrestlings of a Gay Orthodox Rabbi,” that he said led him to seek a more in-depth treatment of the issue and to writing his newest book, Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition.
Greenberg became the first openly homosexual Orthodox rabbi in 1999 and has since become an advocate for homosexual acknowledgement in the Orthodox community.
Greenberg said he uses the Jewish community as a case study to look at the larger issues of social diversity in religion.
“[I’ll be talking] specifically about the challenge of religious communities to welcome and engage and include their gay and lesbian children,” Greenberg said.
The main focus of his lecture, Greenberg said, will be the question of same-sex civil marriage versus same-sex religious marriage. He said the difference between the two should be addressed in religious institutions and that his goal is to “help people who are committed to religious traditions to understand why same-sex civil marriages should be their value too.”
“The difference between the two is important to me,” Greenberg said.
Anyone interested in modern society and topical issues should think about attending, Pearlman said.
“The larger issue of how religion changed to modernity is very interesting, whether you are gay, lesbian, bi, transsexual or whether you’re straight,” Greenberg said.
In addition to the lecture and question-and-answer session, Rabbi Greenberg will be signing copies of his new book. Greenberg is visiting Eugene Thursday and will be back in Portland Friday for a small-scale lunch session for students and faculty from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Friday session is for any students or professors who wish to participate, event planner Ann Usher said, but interested parties should contact her first at 503-725-5057.
Greenberg will also introduce and talk about the film Trembling on the Road, playing at the Whitsell Auditorium in the Portland Art Museum on Saturday at 9 p.m. as part of the 15th annual Portland Jewish Film Festival.
[Editors Note:]
Steven Greenberg’s lecture has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Smith Ballroom due to the recent weather conditions.
Contact Ann Usher 503-725-5057 or email ushera@pdx.edu with any questions.