Tirzah Firestone

Tirzah Firestone (born May 27, 1954) is an American analytical psychotherapist, author, and Jewish Renewal rabbi.

She is the founding rabbi of Congregation Nevei Kodesh, a Jewish Renewal synagogue in Boulder, Colorado, and is now Rabbi Emerita there.

Firestone earned her master's degree in Holistic Counseling from Beacon College in 1982 and her doctorate in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, in 2015.

After graduating, she spent an extended period living in Israel and working on kibbutzim Ma'ale Gilboa and Moshav Amirim.

She also apprenticed in Jerusalem with Rabanit Leah Sharabi, the wife of the Kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi, who influenced her greatly.

In her memoir, Firestone tells the story of how her first husband inspired her return to Judaism by means of his own faith and love of Judaism.

She was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 1992, and is a leader in the international Jewish Renewal movement.

Widely known for her work on Jewish feminism and the modern applications of Jewish mystical wisdom, Firestone teaches nationally on and the between ancient Jewish heritage and contemporary psychology.

Firestone is an active member of Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal (1994–present) and the associated Ohalah Rabbinic Association (2003–present).

Firestone remarried in 1999 to David Friedman.

Together, they have three grown children.

She is a past national co-chair of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (2009–2010), and is currently serving on the board of the Yesod Foundation (1997–present).

She was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in St. Louis, Missouri, as the fifth of six children born to Sol and Kate Firestone.

She is the younger sister of Shulamith Firestone, and went to Hebrew day schools through high school.