Jacob J. Staub is a rabbi, author and poet. In 1977 he was ordained as a rabbi at the

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Associa ...

. He was Academic Dean of the College from 1989 to 2004, and the editor of the Reconstructionist magazine from 1983 to 1989. In 2009 he was Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality and Chair of the Department of Medieval Jewish Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinic College. In 1998, he founded at RRC the first program in Jewish Spiritual Direction at a rabbinical seminary, and he continues to direct it. He has written two books on

Gersonides Levi ben Gershon (1288 – 20 April 1344), better known by his Graecized name as Gersonides, or by his Latinized name Magister Leo Hebraeus, or in Hebrew by the abbreviation of first letters as ''RaLBaG'', was a medieval French Jewish philosoph ...

' philosophy of creation and

Reconstructionist Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement that views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization rather than a religion, based on concepts developed by Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983). The movement originated as a semi-organized stream wi ...

. He has written essays on

Mordecai Kaplan Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (born Mottel Kaplan; June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983), was a Lithuanian-born American rabbi, writer, Jewish educator, professor, theologian, philosopher, activist, and religious leader who founded the Reconstructionist ...

's thought.

Education and early life

Staub received an undergraduate degree from the

State University of New York at Old Westbury The State University of New York College at Old Westbury (SUNY at Old Westbury) is a public college in Old Westbury, New York, with portions in the neighboring town of Jericho, New York. It enrolls just over 5,000 students. History The State Uni ...

and a doctorate in religion/religious studies from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in 1980.

Bibliography

* ''The Creation of the World According to Gersonides'' (Brown Judaic Studies, 1982) * ''Exploring Judaism, A Reconstructionist Approach'' (Reconstructionist Press, 2000), with Rebecca T. Alpert * ''Kaplan and Process Theology,'' Goldsmith, E.S, , M and Seltzer, R.M. (eds.),''The American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan,'' (New York University Press, 1990.)

References

* www.rrc.edu/site/c.iqLPIWOEKrF/b.1778709/k.9A21/Jacob_J_Staub_PhD.htm * www.forward.com/authors/jacob-j-staub/ Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American Reconstructionist rabbis State University of New York at Old Westbury alumni Temple University alumni Reconstructionist Rabbinical College faculty American male poets Jewish American writers 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis {{US-rabbi-stub