Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh names a familiar face as CRC board chair

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh has announced a new board chair for its Community Relations Council, and the name will be familiar to many: Rabbi Jamie Gibson.

Gibson is the rabbi emeritus at Temple Sinai, where he served for more than three decades before retiring in 2020.

The rabbi holds the Rabbi Jason Edelstein chair at St. Vincent College in Latrobe in Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, and teaches undergraduate and seminary courses on interfaith engagement. He serves as a commissioner on Pittsburgh’s Human Relations Commission, is a senior rabbinic fellow at the prestigious Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and is also a rabbinic fellow at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.

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Gibson has a history of interfaith outreach, including leading a mission to Israel with the East Liberty Presbyterian Church and Temple Sinai in 2019.

The rabbi pointed to his work both in and out of the Jewish community as one of the reasons he was named board chair.

“I’m honored that Federation recognized the 38 years of interfaith and interracial work that I’ve done to try to get people to go beyond the limitations of their communities to work for common goals and values,” he said.

Gibson is the first rabbi to hold the position, but he doesn’t necessarily think the title alone affords him special merit.

“I stand in the shadows of the great lay leaders who have taken this position in the past,” he said. “The position of rabbi is only as good as the person who is advocating from that place. I’ve tried really hard to use my position to create new relations across all boundaries throughout the city of Pittsburgh and the region.”

The rabbi title, Gibson noted, can open doors for some people, but for others it may be an obstacle. In that case, he hopes the work he’s done will prove his sincerity.

“I’ve spent more than four decades trying to build relationships, so hopefully they can trust me, even if they don’t trust the word ‘rabbi,’” he said.

And while the safety of the Jewish community is paramount to Gibson, he said that the CRC can’t stop there. In fact, he said, the security of the community is a result “of our investment in relationships with others who feel connected to us so that they will step forward on our behalf.”

Gibson said that while the direction and priorities of the CRC are coordinated with David Knoll, the Federation’s associate vice president of public affairs, he hopes to use his experience to help with its mission.

He also hopes to “find new, younger people who are willing to take up the mantle of asking ourselves the hard questions like, how do we promote well-being in our community based on our understanding as Jews, that we are committed to a larger community?”

Knoll, who is the CRC’s immediate past chair, said the council is focused on building relationships with other communities, while promoting understanding and responding to issues affecting the Jewish community.

“People think that community relations is just about crisis response, but in actuality, it’s about long-term relationship building, and that’s across races and all neighborhoods of Pittsburgh,” Knoll said. “This approach strengthens not only the Jewish community, but the entire region. It’s not only about us; it’s about everybody.”

In Pittsburgh, he said, communities are interconnected, meaning that Jewish safety and prosperity is inseparable from the health of the broader “civic fabric.”

Gibson, he noted, comes to the CRC with more than four decades of work in this area and has shown a consistent commitment to dialogue, coalition building and standing with vulnerable communities.

“It’s those kinds of relationships that are essential in this moment when we’re so polarized,” Knoll said.

As for the rabbi title, Knoll said, it means nothing without doing the work required — something Gibson has shown time and again.

“He has a track record of doing this work and being successful,” Knoll said. “It’s more important now than ever before with what’s going on with world. He has a track record of bringing people together, and that’s what we need.”

For Gibson, the work of the CRC is vital and something that must continue, no matter what’s happening in the world.

“Even in times of great stress — and I think we’re in a time of great stress — opportunities arise for building relationships, for communities that we have not been so close to in the past, such as the Indian community and the Jain community, and other communities that we have not necessarily looked to as partners and allies. Maybe now that door can be opened, even in the midst of the crises we face,” Gibson said. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.