Ariel Stone

Ariel Stone, also called C. Ariel Stone, is the first American Rabbi to lead a congregation in the former Soviet Union, and the first progressive rabbi to serve the Jewish community in Ukraine.[1][2][3] After serving as Assistant Rabbi of Temple Israel of Greater Miami 1991-1993 with Rabbi Rex Perlmeter, she represented the World Union for Progressive Judaism in Ukraine from 1993 until 1994.[4][5][6] While in Ukraine she was a rabbi at Congregation HaTikvah in Kiev, and helped in creating progressive congregations in Ukraine.[7][8] In 1993-1994 she taught Holocaust studies at the University of Central Florida.

Photo credit: Briana Ybanez

Since 2002, Ariel Stone has served as the spiritual leader of Congregation Shir Tikvah in Portland, Oregon.[9] Stone has a master's degree in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and was awarded a Doctor of Jewish Studies degree from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago in 2010.[10] As of 2018, she has served as adjunct faculty in the Religious Studies departments of Willamette University of Salem, Oregon, and Portland State University in Oregon.[11] From 2007-2009 and again from 2015-2017 she was President of the Oregon Board of Rabbis.[12]

She is the founder of the Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance, a group of faith leaders committed to justice, compassion and accountability. The Portland Human Rights Commission awarded Ariel Stone the Emily G. Gottfried Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.[13]

Her books include "Because All is One" and "The Aleph Bet of Death, Dying as a Jew: A Guide for the Dying out of Traditional Sources."