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Gaber had been on disability leave for nearly eight years from his job as assistant executive director of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

After his ordination in 1996, he began studying to be a chaplain in a program at Mount Zion Hospital. But he became too ill to complete it, said his friend, Karen Robbins. She was executive director of the JCC during Gaber's 16-year tenure there.

"He was pretty wonderful," she said. "I have a whole folder of things he sent me — articles, letters, pictures — things he would see and know I would be interested in. He was always thinking of everyone like that. He was a holy man."

Gaber had been HIV-positive since the early 1980s, she said, and had taken AZT and "all the earlier drugs, and so was resistant to the later drugs."

Still, "He survived a lot longer than many people do," said Dubi Barcan, his friend of 24 years. "He had struggled so hard to hang on."

The men met and became friends when both were living in Israel and attending Hebrew University.

"He was full of life, real gregarious," Barcan said.

Colleague Barbara Litt, director of the émigré department at the JCC of San Francisco, said even Gaber's goodbye party at the center exemplified his vibrant spirit.

"He said he didn't want this to be a sad event. It was almost festive. People were dancing."

The loss has been "heartbreaking," Litt said.

"He was just coming into his own as a professional," she said. "He was so sensitive, but was also very, very funny — really fast on the uptake. He lit a spiritual light for all of us."

Litt told of a memorial service he once led honoring a beloved English teacher who was Jewish but also a Buddhist. Gaber performed a traditional service with elements of the Eastern faith.

"He hit just the right note," Litt said.

Gaber, a native of Boston, attended Lubavitch day schools as a youth.

However, he departed from his Orthodox roots as an adult. He joined Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, a Reform synagogue in San Francisco with special outreach to the gay and lesbian community. He also attended services at Ruach Ami Jewish Healing Center, now called the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center.

About 10 years ago, he began studying for his ordination through the Renewal movement. The noted Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi, who had first inspired him, performed the ordination.

While completing his final project for the rabbinate in 1996, Gaber told the Jewish Bulletin the spiritual discipline of his studies had brought beauty, meaning and stability to his life during the most difficult times.

Colleagues from the JCC and other organizations praised his ability to develop innovative programs.

"He was Jewish to the core," said Nate Levine, now executive director of the JCC of San Francisco, who took counsel from Gaber when he worked at other agencies.

"He brought a really strong and clear vision of inclusivity in Jewish programming," Levine added. "He was creative and innovative and always took risks, and always with heart. He inspired others to explore the Jewish imagination."

A memorial service, now being planned by friends, will be held in the near future.

Gaber "wanted people to contribute to a charity of their choice," Barcan said.

He is survived by his mother, Anita Gaber of Boston.