Stacy Stuart

Stacy Stuart was born into a Jewish family with two Jewish parents. While she did attend plenty of Bar and Bat Mitzvahs growing up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, this was largely the extent of her Jewish education. It wasn’t until 1994, when she got engaged to her also-Jewish but entirely secular husband, Gregg, that she decided to investigate Judaism, fueled by the desire to create a personal and meaningful wedding ceremony. She found a reform rabbi and a few helpful books and created a mostly-English, somewhat non-traditional ceremony that included many of the mainstays of a typical Jewish wedding. She loved the experience, but wasn’t sure how to add Judaism to her life in a way that would feel as authentic.

Fast forward a few years to when Stacy and Gregg were invited to spend Rosh Hashanah at Archie Gottesman’s house. They were worried that they would feel uncomfortable and out-of-place because they didn’t know the lingo, the songs or the customs. (In other words, they were worried about being Jewbarrassed™.) Fortunately, Archie’s expectations of what one “should” know were low and the experience was warm, welcoming and full of joy. This was the real beginning of Stacy’s Jewish journey, when she realized that Judaism needn’t be distant or complicated or even include belief in God. She believes that there are many people like her, who are open to giving Judaism a try and who would ultimately be thrilled that they did, if only they had the right tools. Stacy is proud to be a co-founder of JewBelong, where she is determined to make sure that happens.

Stacy has been a marketing professional for almost 30 years, including five years at Ogilvy and Mather, and 20 years working on the well-known advertising for Manhattan Mini Storage, including a couple of these favorites:
You’re not little Edie, and this isn’t Grey Gardens.
Let your personality be the reason people don’t want to come to your apartment.

Stacy and Gregg have raised three secular but spiritually-Jewish children in Verona, NJ. Stacy is a graduate of Ithaca College, New York University, and Wexner.