Chaplain Mickey Benson, the interfaith arts and culture coordinator at AgeWell at the JCC, isn’t a rabbi. Given Benson’s faith, practice and professionalism, however, the absence of semicha is a puzzling detail for some. In fact, many who encounter Benson often ponder, “Why chaplaincy?”
The answer, Benson happily explained, is somewhat etymological.
“The word ‘rabbi’ means teacher,” Benson, 27, said. “Being a chaplain, specifically, is a role where you walk beside the other person and you let them lead.”
Each day, within the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s South Hills and Squirrel Hill branches, Benson aims to allow others — primarily older adults — to take that first step.
Whether by offering programs that promote independence or opportunities for communal engagement, the Jewish professional strives to “make intentional space, and to remove barriers, so people can eat together, plan together and organize.”
An affinity for chaplaincy, Benson said, does not imply any disrespect for rabbis, cantors or other faith leaders. “For me, chaplaincy specifically is about letting someone else be the teacher, and I can be the Rolodex or the dictionary.”
Such an example arose recently when a colleague asked Benson for help demonstrating different life cycle events to young learners. Benson welcomed the request and began brainstorming. Together, the colleagues developed a plan. Months later, standing beside an older adult couple and dozens of early childhood students in the South Hills, Benson conveyed the significance of Tu B’Av, a date on the Jewish calendar known for love and matchmaking.
With captivated young learners eagerly observing, Benson welcomed the couple beneath a chuppah and aided them in renewing wedding vows first shared nearly 50 years ago.
Benson’s efforts, explained JCC representatives, not only enabled older adults to publicly profess their love, but allowed early childhood students to see many of the steps that occur within a Jewish wedding.
In fact, Benson said, the learning process wasn’t merely visual. As a lead-up to the ceremony, the students worked with teachers to make painted ketubot (marriage contracts) as wedding gifts.
Benson’s journey to chaplaincy began years ago. After growing up in Portland, Oregon, in a “strong Jewish community,” Benson attended Albion College in Michigan. Drawn to the school for its Gerald Ford Institute of Public Policy and Public Service, Benson was one of a handful of Jews on campus. Still, Benson became an active member of that campus and the wider community.
After graduating with a degree in religion and a certificate in public policy, Benson received a master’s in Jewish nonprofit management from Hebrew Union College and certification as an interfaith movement chaplain from the Faith Matters Network. Before joining the JCC, Benson worked to create Jewish educational experiences in Israel, Poland and India, as well as at Binghamton University Hillel as the Springboard Ezra Jewish Education Fellow.
Whether in Pittsburgh, while working to empower older adults, or during any of Benson’s other stops, the goal has been the same, Benson said: to “make sure that everyone at the table gets fed spiritually — because that’s, I think, what we’re ultimately really called to do.”
With credit to colleagues and communal partners both in the South Hills and Squirrel Hill, Benson said the “Jewish community has so many different capacities to share the resources and the techniques we’ve developed.”
For older adults, especially, there are ample opportunities for enrichment. In the coming weeks, for instance, AgeWell will host numerous educational and social events aimed at maximizing people’s time. There are tech tutoring meetups where constituents can receive advice regarding various devices, clubs dedicated to playing chess, Scrabble or canasta, or even groups for those seeking to refine their French or Spanish-speaking abilities. Given the variety of offerings, “there are so many interesting opportunities to be plugged into,” Benson said. Older adults in
Pittsburgh should know, “there’s a lot of really cool ways to engage.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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