About
Rabbi Pini Dunner
Senior Rabbi of Beverly Hills Synagogue. Torah scholar, historian, author, and public intellectual. Descended from over a millennium of European Jewish scholarship.
Rabbi Pini Dunner is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Jewish life — a rabbi who is equally at home in the beit midrash and the public square, in the archive and on the podium. Born in London in 1970 to Holocaust survivor parents, he has spent his life at the intersection of Torah scholarship, Jewish history, and communal leadership, building institutions and communities on two continents while writing and speaking to audiences far beyond the synagogue.
His work is animated by three convictions: that the Torah has something urgent to say to every generation; that Jewish history — in all its drama, tragedy, and improbable resilience — is one of the great untold stories of civilization; and that a rabbi's responsibility extends beyond his own congregation to the broader Jewish world and the society it inhabits.
A Thousand Years of Scholarship
Rabbi Dunner is descended from over a millennium of European Jewish scholarship. His lineage includes Rashi — the pre-eminent medieval commentator on the Torah and Talmud — and the Maharal of Prague, one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the sixteenth century. His father, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Dunner, was a Holocaust survivor who became one of the most respected Orthodox rabbis in post-war Britain. His great-uncle, Dayan Ahron Dovid Dunner, was a leading figure in the London Beth Din.
Rabbi & Community Leader
- Senior Rabbi, Beverly Hills Synagogue, 2011–present
- Founder, Saatchi Synagogue, London, 1998
- Assistant Rabbi, Moscow Choral Synagogue
- Executive Committee, Rabbinical Council of America
- Board member, Israel Christian Nexus
Rabbi Dunner has served as Senior Rabbi of Beverly Hills Synagogue — Young Israel of North Beverly Hills — since 2011. Under his leadership the congregation has become a center of Torah learning, communal life, and Jewish engagement in Los Angeles, drawing members and visitors from across the city and beyond.
His communal career began in Moscow, where he served as Assistant Rabbi at the historic Choral Synagogue — one of the oldest and most significant synagogues in Russia — during a pivotal period of Jewish renewal following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Returning to London, he founded the Saatchi Synagogue in 1998, an innovative congregation for young Jewish professionals in London's West End that became one of the most talked-about Jewish communities in Britain.
He also served as rabbi at congregations in Notting Hill and St John's Wood, London, before relocating to Beverly Hills. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America and on the board of the Israel Christian Nexus.
- Senior Rabbi, Beverly Hills Synagogue, 2011–present
- Founder, Saatchi Synagogue, London, 1998
- Assistant Rabbi, Moscow Choral Synagogue
- Executive Committee, Rabbinical Council of America
- Board member, Israel Christian Nexus
Torah Scholar & Jewish Historian
- B.A. (Hons.) Jewish History, University College London
- Rabbinic ordination, Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood NJ
- Study at Merkaz HaTorah, Ner Israel, and Gateshead Yeshiva
- Weekly parsha essays distributed to thousands of readers
- 35-lesson Pirkei Avot series
Rabbi Dunner holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Jewish History from University College London (UCL), one of the world's leading centers for the academic study of Jewish civilization. His rabbinic ordination was conferred at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey — the largest yeshiva in the United States — following earlier study at Merkaz HaTorah in Montreal, Ner Israel in Baltimore, and the Gateshead Yeshiva in England.
This combination — rigorous academic training in Jewish history alongside traditional yeshiva learning at the highest level — gives Rabbi Dunner a perspective that is genuinely rare. He brings the historian's instinct for evidence and context to Torah scholarship, and the scholar's depth to historical research.
His weekly parsha essays, published on this site and distributed to thousands of readers, are recognized for their originality and their ability to connect ancient text to contemporary life in ways that are always surprising and never predictable. His Pirkei Avot series — thirty-five lessons on the Ethics of the Fathers — is one of the most complete treatments of that text available online.
- B.A. (Hons.) Jewish History, University College London
- Rabbinic ordination, Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood NJ
- Study at Merkaz HaTorah, Ner Israel, and Gateshead Yeshiva
- Weekly parsha essays distributed to thousands of readers
- 35-lesson Pirkei Avot series
Broadcaster, Speaker & Public Intellectual
- Daily radio host, Spectrum Radio, London
- Debate with Dennis Prager on PragerU
- Writing in Washington Times, Jewish Journal, Forward, JPost, JC
- Founder and head, IRON Initiative
- Speaker across US, Israel, and UK
In the late 1990s Rabbi Dunner hosted a daily two-hour radio program on London's Spectrum Radio, reaching tens of thousands of listeners with interviews spanning senior British and Israeli politicians, community leaders, academics, and public figures. The program established him as one of the most prominent Jewish voices in British media.
He has since spoken at synagogues, universities, and conferences across the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom, and has debated some of the most consequential questions in Jewish and public life. His debate with Dennis Prager on PragerU — Are Humans Inherently Good? — has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.
His writing on public affairs has appeared in the Washington Times, Jewish Journal, The Forward, Washington Jewish Week, Israel National News, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, and Jewish Chronicle. He is the founder and head of the IRON Initiative, a campaign focused on Qatar's global influence operations and their impact on Jewish communities and Israel.
- Daily radio host, Spectrum Radio, London
- Debate with Dennis Prager on PragerU
- Writing in Washington Times, Jewish Journal, Forward, JPost, JC
- Founder and head, IRON Initiative
- Speaker across US, Israel, and UK
The Pini Dunner Collection
- Rare Hebrew books, manuscripts, letters, and documents
- Cited by Tablet magazine
- Referenced by Harvard's Judaica Division
- Consulted by libraries, auction houses, and private collectors
Over many decades Rabbi Dunner has assembled one of the most significant private collections of antiquarian Hebrew books and manuscripts in the world. The Collection spans centuries of Jewish intellectual and spiritual life — rare printed books, manuscripts, letters, and documents that illuminate the history of Jewish thought, law, and culture.
The Collection has been cited by Tablet magazine and referenced by Harvard's Judaica Division. It underpins much of Rabbi Dunner's original historical research and writing, and has been consulted by libraries, auction houses, and private collectors worldwide. A dedicated page presenting the Collection is forthcoming.
- Rare Hebrew books, manuscripts, letters, and documents
- Cited by Tablet magazine
- Referenced by Harvard's Judaica Division
- Consulted by libraries, auction houses, and private collectors
Current Work
- Weekly Torah teaching at Beverly Hills Synagogue
- Weekly parsha essays and Jewish history writing
- New books in progress
- Available for speaking and media
Rabbi Dunner continues to lead Beverly Hills Synagogue, where he teaches Torah weekly and serves a diverse and engaged congregation. He publishes weekly parsha essays and Jewish history pieces on this site, distributes a weekly email to thousands of subscribers, and speaks regularly at synagogues and institutions across North America.
He is currently working on new books and continues his research in Jewish history and antiquarian manuscripts. He remains active in public advocacy on Israel and Jewish communal affairs, and is available for speaking engagements, scholar-in-residence programs, and media interviews.
- Weekly Torah teaching at Beverly Hills Synagogue
- Weekly parsha essays and Jewish history writing
- New books in progress
- Available for speaking and media
Explore His Work
Read his writing
1,400+ essays on Torah, Jewish history, and contemporary affairs
Explore Jewish history
Original research and forgotten stories from the Jewish past
Media & speaking
Press record, speaking subjects, and booking information
Books
Five books spanning Jewish history and Torah commentary