Daniel Bouskila is the Senior Rabbi of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel in Westwood, a congregation numbering 800 families. He has held his pulpit since 1993 and at 43 he is one of the youngest Rabbis leading a major congregation.

Rabbi Bouskila holds a BA in history from UCLA and Rabbinic Ordination from Yeshiva University in New York. He studied at the Hesder Yeshiva Kerem B’Yavnehin Israel for 2 years, served in the IDF’s Givati Infantry Brigade for 1 year during the first Lebanon War (1984-85), and studied at HebrewUniversity in Jerusalem for 1 year.

A Senior Vice-President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, Rabbi Bouskila also serves on the boards of UCLA Hillel, the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and the Israel Film Festival. In 2004, he was honored by the LA Israeli Community with the “Yekir Ha-Kehilla Ha-Yisraelit” (cherished friend of the Israeli Community) award, and in 2007, he was given a special grant by the Board of Rabbis to study at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is a regular contributor to local and national newspapers (in both English and Hebrew). He writes a weekly “Spiritual Thought” via e-mail and blog, exploring Torah, Philosophy, Literature and Israel. He has also published an extensive commentary to the Sephardic Passover Haggadah.

With academic expertise in Talmud, Rabbinics, Modern Israeli History and Politics, and the literature of S.Y. Agnon, Rabbi Bouskila teaches advanced courses to rabbinical students at the Academy for Jewish Religion. For ten years, he taught Talmud and Jewish History at Shalhevet High School, where he also (as a special hobby) coached the Girls Varsity Basketball team, leading them to 2 consecutive national tournament championships in Miami Beach, Florida.

A devoted activist for Israel, Rabbi Bouskila has raised over two million dollars for various causes in Israel, has led seven synagogue charity missions to Israel, and has organized and led two high school group trips from his synagogue to Israel. He has also been the educational advisor on four additional Israel trips for the Sephardic Educational Center. He continues to maintain close relations with some of Israel’s leading writers, politicians and social activists.

He is a frequent lecturer on Israeli political, military and social issues, Modern Hebrew Literature (especially Agnon), and on Israel/Diaspora relations.

Rabbi Bouskila is married to Peni, and they are the proud parents of two beautiful children, an 11-year-old daughter Shira, and an 8-year-old son Ilan.

Rabbi Daniel Bouskila