[1] Firestone was born in Northern California and has lived with his family in Israel, Egypt, and Germany.
[1] He regularly lectures in universities and religious centers throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
and Rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1982,[1] and was awarded his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic studies from New York University in 1988.
[1] He has researched and written extensively on the topics of religious violence and holy war in Islam and Judaism.
[2][3] He is currently recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship in Berlin and Sigi Feigel Visiting Professorship for Jewish Studies at the University of Zürich.