Joseph Telushkin

Joseph Telushkin is an acclaimed American rabbi, lecturer, and bestselling author, born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1948. He was raised in a Jewish family, the son of Solomon and Hellen Telushkin, and attended Yeshiva of Flatbush, where he met his future co-author Dennis Prager. Telushkin's passion for Judaism led him to become an active leader of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry during his time at Columbia University. His commitment to the cause led him to visit the Soviet Union, where he met with dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov, which resulted in his being listed by the KGB as an anti-Russian agent.

As a spiritual leader, Telushkin serves as the rabbi of the Synagogue for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, a position he has held since its founding in 1972 by Rabbi Jerome Cutler. He is also an associate of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and a former director of education at the non-denominational Brandeis-Bardin Institute. Telushkin is a Senior Associate with CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and is a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Book Council. He has been featured on Newsweek's list of the 50 most influential Rabbis in America since 1997.

Telushkin is the author of sixteen books on Judaism, including "Words that Hurt, Words that Heal," which inspired Senators Joseph Lieberman and Connie Mack's Senate Resolution #151 to establish a National Speak No Evil Day in the United States. His book "Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History" is one of the best-selling books on Judaism of the past two decades. The first volume of "A Code of Jewish Ethics," entitled "A Code of Jewish Ethics: You Shall be Holy," was published in 2006, and the second volume, "A Code of Jewish Ethics: Love Your Neighbor," was released in 2009.

In 2013, Telushkin was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, to speak before the commission in Geneva. In 2014, Telushkin released "Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History," which appeared on all the major bestseller lists, including the New York Times Best Seller list, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Telushkin tours the United States as a lecturer on Jewish topics and has been named by Talk Magazine as one of the fifty best speakers in the United States. He wrote the episode 'Bar Mitzvah' on Touched by an Angel guest starring Kirk Douglas.