Rabbi Jack Stern will serve as TBS’s rabbi in residence from February 14th through March 6th, 2005, in 2006, and from April 4-17, 2008.

Born in Cincinnati, Rabbi Jack Stern graduated with honors in 1948 from the University of Cincinnati, where he majored in sociology and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Hebrew letters from the Hebrew Union College, also in Cincinnati. He was ordained in 1952.

He served as student Rabbi in Battle Creek, Mich., and after ordination was assistant rabbi to Rabbi Jacob Rudin in Great Neck, N.Y. In 1955, he joined the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y., where he served as the religious leader until his retirement in July, 1991. He now lives in Great Barrington, Mass., where he is a member of Hevrah of Southern Berkshire.

During his rabbinical tenure, Rabbi Stern has been a member the Joint Commission on Social Action of the CCAR-URJ; the Human Relations Advisory Council of Scarsdale; and the National Institute of Mental Health pilot program on “Religion and Mental Health.” He has served as a board member of UJA Federation of Greater New York, the Scarsdale Family Counseling Service, the Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires. In addition, he has served as a vice president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and as president of the Westchester Board of Rabbis, the Scarsdale Clergy and the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

A well-traveled speaker, he has lectured for the Jewish Chautauqua Society at the College of New Rochelle and has chaired the Youth Committee of the C CAR, the Ethics and Appeals Committee of the CCAR, the Rabbinical Placement Commission of the Reform Movement and the Task Force on Jewish Ethics of the UAHC.

Presently, Rabbi Stern is a trustee of Mazon and of Construct, Inc., an organization that responds to the needs of the homeless. He also chairs the CCAR Committee on Sexual Abuse by Clergy.