Rabbi Shira Stern was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1983 and earned her Doctor of Ministry from HUC-JIR in 2004. Rabbi Stern spent thirteen years in at the Monroe Township Jewish Center and was named emerita when she retired. She then spent a year at MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. She was co-president of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, and served on the board for several years prior. She created the Human Relations commission in Monroe, was a member of the county and state Human Rights Commissions, and was a member of the Commission on Social Action of the Reform Movement for six years. In addition to her political activism in the pro-choice movement, she has been widely featured in the print and television media on a variety of topics, including fostering Jewish/Muslim relationships.

She writes on issues of Women in Judaism, biblical commentary and chaplaincy-related topics, and served on several boards, including HIAS, Planned Parenthood, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC) and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

She is a Board Certified Jewish Chaplain and is a past-president of the NAJC. She has been a hospital and hospice chaplain and currently is certified by the American Red Cross and the OEM of NJ as a Disaster Spiritual Lead for NJ, a national responder and serves as a trainer for Spiritual Care. She was the Director of the Joint Chaplaincy Program of Greater Middlesex County and the Director of the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care in New York City, part of the HealthCare Chaplaincy.

She is now the Director of the Center for Pastoral Care and Counseling in Marlboro, NJ providing individual, family and bereavement therapy and serves as Rabbinic Associate at Temple Rodeph Torah in Marlboro, NJ.