This looks really interesting – you’d be surprised how many members of my immediate family are either going, maybe thinking about going, or at least intrigued by the concept.

Blogging this to be sure that they see the listing, in case they weren’t already planning on going.

Aside from the interesting concept of a humanistic religious community, I’m currently involved in an outreach project for Holy Moly, and one of the goals is getting exactly this kind of press release published. How’s it done? Who’s the contact? I’ve already gotten signed up to do something like this at the Chicago Trib’s “Local Community News” site and I need to make sure we’ve got a login for the Daily Herald. It’s hard to break through the wall and get the right contact there.

Rabbi Binyamin Biber, rabbi of Machar, the Washington, D.C. congregation for Secular Humanistic Judaism, will be “Scholar in Residence” Thursday through Nov. 6 at Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation.

In addition to his pulpit with Machar, Rabbi Biber operates the Humanist Chaplaincy Services of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., conducting public advocacy and education, social-change organizing, counseling, and Humanistic life-cycle ceremonies, including weddings for intercultural and same-sex couples. As a social worker and teacher experienced in working with all age groups, he serves as a veteran community organizer and educator on peace and justice issues, particularly focusing on the Middle East, on sexual minority equality and AIDS prevention, as well as on low-income housing and community economic development.

Biber is also president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis and serves on the rabbinic cabinet of J Street, the largest U.S. Jewish group working for a two-state solution for Israeli-Palestinian peace and self-determination.

Rabbi Biber will speak on “Naturalistic Spirituality” at 8 p.m. Friday at the Heller Nature Center in Highland Park.

via Scholar in residence welcomed – Buffalo Grove Countryside