Rabbi Ira F. Stone (born 1949) is a leading figure in the contemporary renewal of the

Musar movement The Musar movement (also Mussar movement) is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Lithuania, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term (), is adopted from the Book of Proverbs (1 ...

, a Jewish ethical movement.

Career

Stone was ordained as a rabbi at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...

in 1979, and proceeded to serve congregations in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

while also teaching at the

and the

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Assoc ...

. He served as rabbi of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel in Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2015. Stone became the founding director of the Center for Contemporary Mussar in 2017.

Musar Movement

Stone is a scholar of

Emmanuel Levinas Emmanuel Levinas (; ; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics to me ...

and of the Musar movement. His book ''A Responsible Life: The Spiritual Path of Mussar'' draws on the thinking of Emmanuel Levinas in developing a contemporary vision of Musar. Unlike many other non-Orthodox Musar teachers, he believes that Musar practice must involve a commitment to the observance of Jewish law. Stone has also proposed that a dedication to Musar should be central to the approach of

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...

. Rabbi Ira Stone serves as the Rosh Yeshiva of the Center for Contemporary Mussar.

Bibliography

Stone's books include: * ''Reading Levinas/Reading Talmud'' (JPS, 1998) * ''Seeking the Path of Life: Theological Meditations on the Nature of God, Life, Love and Death'' (Jewish Lights, 1993) * ''Sketches for a Book of Psalms'' (Xlibris, 2000) *''A Responsible Life: The Spiritual Path of Mussar'' (Aviv Press, 2006) * A commentary on Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto's ''

Mesillat Yesharim ''Mesillat Yesharim'' or ''Mesillas Yeshorim'' ( he, מסילת ישרים, lit. "Path of the Upright") is an ethical ('' musar'') text composed by the influential Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746). It is different from Luzzato's other wr ...

'' (

Jewish Publication Society The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krausko ...

, 2010). * ''In Search of the Holy Life: Rediscovering the

Kabbalistic Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

Roots of Mussar'' (iUniverse, 2019)

References

Living people Musar movement Philosophers of Judaism American Jewish theologians American Conservative rabbis Jewish Theological Seminary of America semikhah recipients Jewish American writers American spiritual teachers Writers of Musar literature 1949 births 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis {{judaism-philo-bio-stub