Rabbi Avi Taff

Rabbi Avi Taff

Rabbi Avi Taff joins the Sinai Temple community after having served the Valley Beth Shalom community for the last 13 years. Before becoming a Rabbi, Avi served as a paratrooper in the Israeli Army, worked as Youth Educator at Krieger-Schechter Day School in Baltimore, Maryland, as Director of the Special Needs Vocational Program at Camp Ramah in California, and directed a Jewish summer day camp for children with special needs.

Avi has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Judaic Studies from the University of Arizona and was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 2011. Upon his ordination, Avi was awarded the Abby Spivack prize in Community Service as well as a Master’s in Rabbinic Literature.

Avi did not seriously begin to think about the Rabbinate until it became clear to him that he had no future as a professional basketball player in the NBA. By becoming a Rabbi, he was able to combine both his passions; he’s always up for a game of Shabbos ball. Avi and his wife Amy, a Therapist, have three beautiful children: Ethan, Eliana, and Noa and a gentle-giant-of-a-dog named Kugel.