Rodef Shalom severs ties with rabbi
A prominent rabbi at one of Pittsburgh’s historic synagogues will not have his contract renewed following a monthslong review of his workplace conduct.
Rodef Shalom Congregation placed Rabbi Aaron Bisno on paid leave late last year after synagogue employees raised workplace culture concerns against him.
The congregation’s board of trustees announced last week that it would not renew the rabbi’s contract and would begin searching for a new spiritual leader.
“After having the opportunity to review, discuss and deliberate over the results of the independent investigation conducted following employee complaints, the Board of Trustees opted not to renew Rabbi Bisno’s contract with Rodef Shalom Congregation,” the board said in a letter to members that was obtained by the Post-Gazette.
The board said it could not share details of the allegations because it needed to protect employee confidentiality, but that it initiated the investigation because it felt “the pattern and tone of these allegations were concerning enough that the most just and best path forward was to place Rabbi Bisno on paid administrative leave while we gathered more information.”
The board said it hired a firm from outside of Pittsburgh to conduct an “independent, thorough and objective investigation” of the allegations, which included a day -long interview with Rabbi Bisno as well as interviews with many current and former employees.
The results of the investigation, which the board said had “recently concluded” in a Feb. 11 letter to members and obtained by the PostGazette, were not released.
Barb Feige, Rodef Shalom’s interim executive director, said the congregation had no comment beyond what it has told members. Board President Matthew Falcone did not respond to a request for comment. Rabbi Bisno could not be reached.
The board said the decision to cut ties with its spiritual leader since 2004 was difficult and acknowledged that it would be just as
hardfor members to receive the news.
“We understand that this isa grieving process for us all, especiallythose who have celebrated special and meaningful moments with Rabbi Bisno,” the board said. “We can assure you this has been an equally difficult matter for the congregants and past presidents who comprise our board of trustees, all of whom have developed relationships with Rabbi Bisnoover the years.”
The board said it would soon launch an international search for an interim rabbi to assist Rabbi Sharyn Henry, the congregation’s other spiritual leader.
Rabbi Bisno is a wellknown figure in the religious community both in Pittsburgh and nationwide, and is known for championing collaborations between Jewish denominations as well as other religions.
Rabbi Bisno co-led an interfaith pilgrimage with Bishop David A. Zubik in 2010-11 to Rome and Israel, leading Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI to award the rabbi the papal honor of a Benemerenti Medal.
The Reform rabbi also helped form the Joint Jewish Education Program — an inter-denominational religious school — with the Conservative Congregation Beth Shalom.
After the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue, Rabbi Bisno welcomed members of Tree of Life/Or L’Simcha and Dor Hadash — two of the three congregations attacked on Oct. 27, 2018 — to Rodef Shalom’s building along Fifth Avenue in Shadyside.
Rodef Shalom, which has a charter dating to 1856, was an important part of the Reform movement in American Judaism in the 20th century.
According to Rodef Shalom’s website, the congregation hosted a meeting of Reform rabbis in 1885 that led to the so-called “Pittsburgh Platform,” a paradigm shift that declared Judaism was a religion, not a nation, and that the Bible was an ethical guide, not the infallible word of God.
The Pittsburgh Platform, which stated that American Jews did not have to keep kosher, guided North American Reform Judaism until 1937.