The Buffalo Board of Rabbis (BBR) has been active at various times since 1955 although not always continuously. Creation of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis is attributed to Rabbi Isaac Klein. While the Board has existed since the mid-1950s there has been limited centralized record keeping. It is likely that many more BBR materials will be found in each rabbi's associated synagogue records.

As of 2000, the mission of the BBR is to serve the Jewish Community of the Buffalo region “in a spirit of respect, tolerance and mutual support.” It operates as a forum for cooperation, collegiality and camaraderie among rabbis across the various branches of Judaism. It also works to raise and responds to issues of concern within the Jewish community as a whole, lend a voice and support to local Jewish communal agencies, facilitate communication between Jewish organizations and their constituencies, as well as to serve as representatives to the general community and advocate for Jewish communal needs in the public square.

Membership of the BBR is open to Rabbis ordained by recognized seminaries including the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, Jewish Theological Seminary, University of Judaism – Ziegler School, The Metivta, Yeshiva University (REITS). It is also open to as rabbis who are members of professional organizations associated with these rabbinical schools.

Members of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis hold positions on various Jewish organizational boards or special committees, including: Yom HaShoah (community wide observation of the Holocaust), Yom Ha’atzma’ut (community wide celebration of the foundation of Israeli State), Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo, Bureau of Jewish Education, Jewish Community Centers, Jewish Family Service, Kadimah School of Buffalo, Weinberg Campus (formerly Menorah Campus), Holocaust Resource Center, Hillel and Yad B’Yad.

BBR members are active as prison chaplains at local penitentiaries and correctional centers including Attica, Wyoming, Albion, Orleans, Wende, Collins and Lakeview. Members of the BBR also served as chaplains in area hospitals and participate in annual Thanksgiving festivities along with Christian, Baha’i, Hindu, Islamic and Sikh participants. BBR members lead annual Passover seder programs open to the entire community at Temple Beth Zion coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo. As part of a commitment to inter-faith relations, members of the BBR and the BBR as an organization are also active in a number of interfaith initiatives and groups including the Network of Religious Communities (a fusion of the former: Buffalo Area Metropolitan Ministries and Buffalo Area Council of Churches).