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Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Ph.D. is American Jewish University’s Rector and Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy. For more than thirty years as a Visiting Professor, he has taught a course on Jewish law at UCLA School of Law.

Rabbi Dorff was awarded the Journal of Law and Religion’s Lifetime Achievement Award and holds three honorary doctoral degrees.

Rabbi Dorff is Chair of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and served on the editorial committee of Etz Hayim, the new Torah commentary for the Conservative Movement. He has chaired three scholarly organizations: the Academy of Jewish Philosophy, the Jewish Law Association, and the Society of Jewish Ethics. He is also Immediate Past President of the Academy of Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Studies. In spring 1993, he served on the Ethics Committee of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Health Care Task Force. In March 1997 and May 1999, he testified on behalf of the Jewish tradition on the subjects of human cloning and stem cell research before the President's National Bioethics Advisory Commission. In 1999 and 2000 he was part of the Surgeon General’s commission to draft a Call to Action for Responsible Sexual Behavior; and from 2000 to 2002 he served on the National Human Resources Protections Advisory Commission, charged with reviewing and revising the federal guidelines for protecting human subjects in research projects. Rabbi Dorff is also a member of an advisory committee for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on the social, ethical, and religious implications of their exhibits.

Healing a Traumatized Nation and its People

Healing a Traumatized Nation and its People

Since the barbaric attacks of October 7, providing mental health services and rebuilding individual, communal and national resilience have been priorities.

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Bringing Israelis Together

Bringing Israelis Together

Demonstrating the power of connection, Federation’s longtime partnership city of Yerucham recently hosted a visit from residents of Kibbutz Or HaNer, a community on the Gaza border hit hard on October 7.

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Subscribe to PJ Library for Free Books


Subscribe to PJ Library for Free Books


With a free subscription to PJ Library, children from birth to eight years old receive Jewish storybooks and activities that spark conversations around Judaism and inspire the whole family to celebrate what they love about Jewish life.

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Nominate an Outstanding Teen

Nominate an Outstanding Teen

Do you know an extraordinary Jewish teen who is a true changemaker? Each year, the Helen Diller Family Foundation awards 15 Jewish teens with $36,000 in recognition of their exceptional leadership and engagement in service projects that embody the value of tikkun olam (repairing the world).

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