Dorff (born 24 June 1943) is an American Conservative rabbi.
He is a Visiting Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law and Distinguished Professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism) in California (where he is also Rector), author and a bio-ethicist.Dorff is an expert in the philosophy of Conservative Judaism, Bioethics, and acknowledged within the Conservative community as an expert decisor of Jewish law.
Dorff was ordained as a rabbi from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1970.
He earned a Ph.D in philosophy from Columbia University in 1971.
He has been awarded four honorary doctoral degrees -- from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Gratz College, Hebrew Union College, and American Jewish University -- and he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Journal of Law and Religion.
Dorff is the chairman of the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written many responsa (opinion papers and legal rulings) on various aspects of Jewish law and philosophy.
(There is a separate article on Conservative responsa.)