Rabbi Shmuel Irons was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended the Ner Israel Rabbinical College (Baltimore) and completed his studies at Beth Medrash Govoha (Lakewood). In 1974, Rabbi Irons became co-founder and Rosh HaKollel (Dean) of the Kollel Institute of Greater Detroit, the first community Kollel in the United States, and a center of advanced Talmudic learning, outreach and adult education. In addition, Rabbi Irons is the chairman of the Board of Education of Yeshiva Beth Yehuda, Southfield, Michigan and a member of the Rabbinical Court of the Vaad HaRabbonim of Greater Detroit.

In his years of lecturing nationwide to audiences of Rabbis, scholars, attorneys, physicians, college students and professors, Rabbi Irons has spoken on topics as diverse as Life After Death, Torah and Science, Halacha and Medicine, Abortion, Assisted Suicide, Triage, and Jewish History, as well as traditional Talmudic themes. Recently, Rabbi Irons has spent much time researching and developing a unique approach in teaching Jewish history, using original Biblical, Talmudic and Midrashic sources as well as the works of Josephus and other contemporaneous sources. Originally delivered as a popular lecture series, Rabbi Irons has now made these lectures available through the Jewish Heritage Foundation.