Ariel Stone

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Apr 22, 2024, 6:50 PM

This Passover Is Not Different

I know it's a controversial statement, but here we are: as it is said, two Jews (or more), three opinions, at least. Here's a respectful, historically informed offering to balance out the exceptionalism being offered us in too many...

Dec 7, 2023, 5:25 PM

Will Kibbutz Be’eri Now Become A Shrine?

Is Kibbutz Be'eri now going to be a shrine? A few days ago a rabbi I know posted a photo of herself visiting Kibbutz Be'eri. Wearing a helmet and bullet proof vest, she took a selfie in front of a...

Oct 12, 2023, 10:53 PM

From Whence Comes Our Help?

The established leadership of the American Jewish community is freaking out. Why is the response to the horrific events of October 7 2023 in some ways more extreme here in the US than in Israel? For some time now I’ve...

Jun 24, 2023, 2:41 AM

Shabbat Korakh: In Good Faith

כָּל מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, אֵין סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. אֵיזוֹ הִיא מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת קֹרַח וְכָל עֲדָתוֹ: Every principled dispute will in the end endure; But...

May 2, 2023, 10:05 PM

Israel at 75 and the parashat hashavua

We have just marked the 75th year since the declaration of independence of the modern State of Israel (we say it that way because this is the third time that Jews have been in a position of self-rule in...

Jan 20, 2023, 7:33 PM

Shabbat VaEra: Breathe

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר מֹשֶׁ֛ה כֵּ֖ן אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֤א שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָ֖ה קָשָֽׁה But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage (Exodus 6.9) Traditional Jewish teaching about the escape of...

Jan 16, 2023, 5:56 AM

Home Must Be A Place Of Torah

וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּאֶ֖רֶץ מְגוּרֵ֣י אָבִ֑יו בְּאֶ֖רֶץ כְּנָֽעַן “Jacob settled in the land where his parents had lived” - Gen 37.1 The narrative of Jewish history, that is to say the story we tell ourselves about who we are and where we...

Jul 26, 2016, 1:39 PM

My rabbinic duty to speak against the occupation

Once again, the scouts of Sh’lakh-L’kha are left holding the bag. Every year around this time we Jews who engage in weekly Torah study again reach the Book of Numbers. In my congregation it was only last week that we...

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About Me

Rabbi Ariel Stone has been Shir Tikvah’s spiritual leader since the congregation’s founding in 2002. A caring and vibrant leader, she is a knowledgeable teacher of Torah and a recognized scholar of Jewish mysticism. She is the first female rabbi to be the head of a congregation in the state of Oregon. She helped to create TischPDX, Hesed Shel Emet of Portland Oregon, Rachel's Well Portland Community Mikveh, and the Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance.