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September 03, 2010 from 8:00 PM

In 2005, 60 religious leaders from diverse faith communities presented a letter to Congress speaking about “ the Federal Budget as an inherently Moral Document.” The same could be said about our state, county and city budgets.

Moral budgeting is the theme of this year’s Labor in the Pulpits program (also known as Labor in the Bimah or Labor on the Minbar) which will be held at Congregation Shir Hadash on Friday evening September 3rd at our 8 pm worship service. Bringing the concerns of the poorest members of our community and the quest for economic justice into the faith community’s worship services during Labor Day Weekend, this event helps reminds us of the sacred connection between faith and work, renewing our common commitment to act for justice in our community. The 11th annual Labor in the Pulpits program, under the sponsorship of The Interfaith Council on Economic and Social Justice, will address more than 60,000 worshipers during 165 Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Unitarian services Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-6.

Our speaker this year will be Ben Field, a member of our congregation.
A graduate of Columbia University, Ben worked as a legislative aide to Congressman Don Edwards and later for the United States Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Development. He received his law degree in 1993 from Boalt Hall and completed his Ph.D. in American history from UC Berkeley in 2000. He has authored several articles and a book on history and the law and served as Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County for over 15 years.
Ben currently works as the Chief of Staff for the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council and a think tank called Working Partnership USA, where he handles a wide variety of political, public relations, and organizing duties. He is also an adjunct professor at San Jose State University, where he has taught courses on the U.S. presidency, constitutional law, judicial politics, law and society, and political history in the Political Science Department.
Ben has been active in the Jewish community. He has served as the co-chair of the Friends of PACT, a faith-based group that supports community organizing and social justice activities, the Chair of the Cardozo Society, a Jewish lawyers guild, and a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council. He is also a volunteer leader with Habitat for Humanity. In January he led a ten day home building trip to El Salvador.

Contact: Nadine Toby, nadine@shirhadash.org, 408-358-1751 x5
Organization: Congregation Shir Hadash
Website Link: http://www.shirhadash.org/calendar/e/01384
Location: 20 Cherry Blossom Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95032

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