Rabbi Charles Diamond was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1985. He has worked as a Rabbi at Temple Israel of Great Neck (1983-1989) as an assistant to Rabbi Mordecai Waxman and as Director of the Youth House. Under his direction and leadership the Youth House doubled in size and in participation.
In September of 1989 with his new bride Mickie Stern Diamond he moved to Southfield, Michigan to become the Rabbi of Education and Youth at Congregation Shaarey Tzedek. Rabbi Chuck injected his enthusiasm and vision and began the process of reinvigorating the Religious School and Youth programming.
In 1991 with their new addition, Avigayil, the Diamonds moved back to the Rabbis hometown of Pittsburgh to Congregation Beth Shalom as an Assistant Rabbi of Education and Youth. It was during his 14 years at Beth Shalom that he helped grow the synagogue into a fine pillar of the Conservative Movement in Pittsburgh. The congregation prospered and was the home of innovative programming for all members of the synagogue community.
In 2005 Rabbi Chuck and a loyal group of followers founded Congregation Or L’Simcha. Or L’Simcha hit the ground running with a standing room crowd for its first High Holiday services. In 2008 with 200 families OLS moved into the Tree of Life building. After 2 years of sharing space Rabbi Chuck became the Senior Rabbi of a merged Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha congregation.
in July of 2017 Rabbi Chuck began work on his new vision – Kehillah La La – an all inclusive community engaging people in the joys of Judaism.
The Rabbi has also spent parts of the past 45 summers at Camp Ramah in Canada. His passion and abilities at working with children has impacted generations of Ramah campers.
In addition to his ordination, Rabbi Chuck has earned a Masters of Public Management at the School of Urban and Public Affairs at Carnegie Mellon University as well as his BA in Social Relations. He is also trained in Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
Rabbi Chuck has served on numerous committee and boards over the years and has been recognized for his achievements many times. He is most proud of his selection by the Agency for Jewish Learning for recognition of his career contributions to the Special Needs community of Pittsburgh.
Since the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue this past October 27th, Rabbi Chuck has become an unofficial spokesperson for his beloved community. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, NPR, BBC, CBC ,Al Jazeera as well other numerous stations around the world. He has been the subject of numerous documentaries and was interviewed by NBC Universal on their recent documentary on Domestic Terrorism, He has also appeared on many podcasts and has spoken at the New Synagogue in London, USF in Sarasota, Temple Emanuel in Kensington, Maryland, Beth El in Smallwood NY. , Beth Torah and Adath Israel in Toronto, Beth Jacob in Hamilton, Ontario and was a guest zoom scholar in Residence at St. Lukes in Manhattan. Rabbi Chuck’s feature presentation is entitled ‘When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough’. He has also spoken at various high schools in their ‘No Place for Hate’ programs.
In addition to leading Kehillah La La, Rabbi Chuck officiates interfaith weddings, writes children’s books, and appeared in the movie, American Pastoral and TV show Downward Dog and was featured on an ESPN segment on Faith and Football.