Rabbi Avi Taff serves as the day school Rabbi and Director of Jewish life for Valley Beth Shalom Day School, as well as being an associate Rabbi at VBS. Before coming to VBS, 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; always up for a game of shabbes ball. Avi lives in Tarzana with his wife Amy, a social worker, and three children Ethan, Eliana and Noa.