Rabbi Jamie Gibson
Emeritus Rabbi, Temple Sinai
2026
For 32 years, Rabbi Jamie Gibson made Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood his home — and in doing so, helped build lasting bridges of friendship and trust across the region’s many faith and racial communities. A graduate with distinction of the University of Michigan, he went on to earn his Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which later honored his decades of devoted service with a Doctor of Divinity in 2008.
Rabbi Gibson’s love of learning and dialogue has taken him far beyond the pulpit. He is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a Fellow of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality — communities that continue to shape and deepen his own spiritual life.
He holds the Rabbi Jason Edelstein Chair in Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, a role close to his heart, where he teaches undergraduates and lectures to seminarians preparing for lives of ministry. He also brings his passion for interfaith understanding to St. Vincent College and the wider Latrobe and Greensburg communities, sharing it generously wherever he’s invited.
Closer to home, he chairs the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and serves on the board of the National Association of Retired Reform Rabbis — continuing to give back to the communities that shaped his career. He also serves on the Ethics Committee of UPMC Magee-Women’s Hospital.
For more than 45 years, Rabbi Gibson has devoted himself to interfaith and intrafaith dialogue, believing deeply that people can come together around shared values without losing what makes them distinct. That same conviction has guided his lifelong work fostering understanding across racial and ethnic lines, and standing up for communities in Pittsburgh who need an advocate most.
The effort to eradicate hate requires the active participation of every component of our society, to include governments, the private sector, communities of faith and indeed every aspect of civil society. There is no more urgent task in front of us. The organizers of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit are doing the United States and the world an enormous service by tackling hatred and extremism with a focus on honest dialogue and conversation, genuine learning and practical solutions. This will not happen overnight, but the Pittsburgh community’s leadership in this effort is genuinely inspiring and motivating.
