Rabbi Stephanie Bernstein was born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota.  She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, an MA in Guidance and Counseling from Eastern Michigan University, and an MSW from Catholic University.  Rabbi Bernstein was a clinical social worker for over twenty years in the Washington, DC area, both in clinics and in private practice. She was a lay leader at Temple Sinai in Washington, DC, and served as president of the congregation. Rabbi Bernstein was a board member of the Mid-Atlantic Council of the Union for Reform Judaism. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2009.  Rabbi Bernstein served as a rabbi at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia from 2012-2022. For the last 30 years, Rabbi Bernstein has been an advocate for aviation security and accountability for those who commit terrorist acts against air travelers. She has testified before Congressional committees on aviation security and terrorism.  Her remarks to a Conference on US-Libyan Relations sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Atlantic Council, and the Middle East Institute (March 16, 2001), were read into the Congressional Record at the request of Sen. Edward Kennedy.   Rabbi Bernstein is the Vice President of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103.  In July 2021, Rabbi Bernstein was appointed by David Pekoske, Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, to the TSA’s Aviation Security Advisory Committee.

Rabbi Bernstein lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband Henry Winokur.  She has two adult children, Sara Bernstein and Joseph Bernstein, and is the proud grandmother of Michael David Berry, Kian Leo Bernstein, and Adlai (Adi) Nima Bernstein.