Rabbi Daniel Bouskila

Daniel Bouskila is the Rabbi of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, a position he has held since 1993. He holds a BA in history from UCLA and Rabbinic Ordination from Yeshiva University in New York. He studied at the Hesder Yeshiva Kerem B’Yavneh in 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 Hebrew University in Jerusalem for 1 year.


A 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. In 2008, he received the Maimonides Leadership Award from the Sephardic Educational Center.

He is a regular columnist for the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and is also a frequent contributor to local and national newspapers (in both English and Hebrew). He writes a weekly “Spiritual Thought” distributed via e-mail, and maintains his own blog, exploring Torah, Talmud, Literature, Israel and Contemporary Jewish Issues. He has also published an extensive commentary to the Sephardic Passover Haggadah.

Rabbi Bouskila’s academic interests include Torah Commentary, Talmud, Midrash and the Literature of Israeli Author & Nobel Prize winner S.Y. Agnon. He teaches classes on these topics to his own congregants, as well as to many other audiences around Los Angeles, including rabbinical students. He is also a noted lecturer and commentator on current events in Israel.

A devoted activist for Israel, Rabbi Bouskila has raised over two million dollars for various Israeli causes, has led several synagogue charity missions to Israel, and has organized and led several youth trips to Israel. He was one of 18 LA rabbis selected to participate in the Israeli Consul’s first ever “Rabbi’s Unity Mission” to Israel. He continues to maintain close relationships with some of Israel’s leading writers, intellectuals, politicians and social activists.
Rabbi Bouskila is married to Penina (Peni) Tuchman from Boston, MA. They are the proud parents of two beautiful children, Shira and Ilan.