Rabbi James Greene, the newest member of the Board of Directors, believes that people of different faiths often share far more than is recognized and that when faith communities stand together, their collective voice carries great moral force. For him, interfaith work is both natural and necessary.

The Jewish tradition teaches that each person reflects God’s presence and that the role of a person of faith is to strive to uncover the gifts they have and to marshal them in the service of others.

As Chief Executive Officer of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, Rabbi Greene leads an agency that serves 8,000 clients, half of whom are new American immigrants and refugees. Based in Springfield, MA, it is the largest refugee-serving organization in Massachusetts.

He was particularly inspired by our founder Father Peter’s description of compassion as something visceral: “It is being sick to your stomach at what you see and saying: ‘I cannot accept what I see, and I am going to act because of that.’”

At the heart of Rabbi Greene’s work is a simple but powerful question: “What does it mean to show up?”  Rabbi Greene’s own experience of “radical hospitality” transformed him. He recounts an experience where neighbors in his own community, all emergency responders, came to his family’s aid after one of his foster children experienced an unforeseen crisis.

Overwhelmed by the experience, he decided to give back to his community and trained to become a firefighter, then an Emergency Medical Technician. Last year, in addition to his full-time leadership role and Board service, he answered more than 330 calls. He shows up, and in doing so, bears continuing witness to a simple truth – one’s presence, particularly in times of need, is a gift.

“…the role of a person of faith is to strive to uncover the gifts they have to share and to marshal them in the service of others.” – Rabbi Greene