After 39 years of working within the Federated system, Stanley Stone has accepted the role of executive director of The American Society of Yad Vashem. On June 12, he replaced Dr. Ron B. Meier, who is retiring. This change of career for the 29-year resident of Teaneck speaks to a personal calling. “To me, Yad Vashem is the soul of Israel, and people need to know that in America and elsewhere. Therefore, when the Society knocked on my door, I had to answer.”
Stone parted a personal curtain in further explaining why Yad Vashem is so meaningful to him. “Both my parents were able to escape from Nazi Germany to Great Britain separately. My father was held for a year in Buchenwald and was fortunately released. Luckily, both of my parents’ families had sponsoring families in Great Britain and were able to find asylum there. My father served in the British army and then married my mother in the United Kingdom. They came to the United States in 1948 and raised their family in Washington Heights.”
“My parents were among the lucky ones who were able to get out in time. That was not the case for millions of others whom Yad Vashem is memorializing every day. In addition, Yad Vashem is paying tribute to the survivors and the heroes who facilitated their survival, including the Righteous Among the Nations. Yad Vashem houses the largest archive of Holocaust records in the world which are made accessible to all.”
Stone has served the Jewish community for over 30 years, both in New York and New Jersey.
Most recently, he served for 19 years as the executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) of Greater MetroWest, the planned gifts and endowment arm of the Jewish Foundation of Greater MetroWest, New Jersey. In that role, he spearheaded the 2012 merger of the Central NJ Federation with the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, New Jersey, to form the Greater MetroWest Federation. As foundation head, Stone has overseen campaigns that have produced an average over seven years of $24 million and built an endowment worth $300 million.
For Stone, the mission of The American Society for Yad Vashem is becoming more crucial daily in the shadow of the ever-increasing incidents of anti-Semitism in America and around the world.“Our challenge is to keep the messages of the Holocaust alive today and for future generations in the face of Holocaust deniers and a quickly dwindling population of Holocaust survivors.”
Stone’s fundraising vision is to provide financial backing for more education on all levels. He hopes to expand educational programs in Jewish day schools as well as public schools. A key target will be the college campuses where Holocaust denial is rampant and emotions are being fired up with anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric and actions. “We hope to increase the teacher-training programs in Israel and the US. We hope to send our traveling exhibits to every corner of the US to raise awareness of the dangers of hate talk.”
Stone and his wife Ellen are the proud parents of six children, five sons including a set of triplets and one daughter who resides with her family in Beit Shemesh. The Stones are the proud grandparents of an ever-growing family. Stone is a member of Congregation Keter Torah where he has served as a gabbai in the hashkama minyan for 14 years as well as being a member of the ritual committee. Stone is also a past vice-president of Torah Academy of Bergen County.
By Pearl Markovitz
