Born | Iran; left with his family in 1977 at age four |
Today | Partner, Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP; Vice President, Iranian American Jewish Federation |
Expertise | Iranian Jewish history, refugee resettlement, community leadership |
Speaks to | High school students, universities, and community audiences |
Article | When Is It Time to Leave? (Distinctions, 2024) |
Website | |
Elliott Benjamin was born in Iran and left with his family in 1977, when he was four years old, two years before the Islamic Revolution. His parents, sensing what lay ahead, resettled the family in London, where he grew up. He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Middlesex University in 1995 and a master's degree in international banking law from Boston University in 1996, then joined his family in Los Angeles.
Today he is a partner in the real estate department of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP in Beverly Hills, with more than 25 years of experience in real estate and business transactions. He is licensed in California and New York. Alongside his legal career, he has devoted decades to helping Jews and other religious minorities leave Iran and rebuild their lives.
He has been involved with the Iranian American Jewish Federation since 1998 and serves as its vice president and an executive board member. He served for more than ten years on the board and committees of HIAS, and has held roles with the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, including its resettlement work, and with World Jewish Relief in the United Kingdom.
Elliott has spoken at a Hebrew Union College conference at UCLA, on a UCLA Hillel panel, at a JIMENA program on threatened communities in the Middle East and North Africa, and regularly to students at Milken Community High School. His 2024 essay for JIMENA's Distinctions journal reflects on his parents' decision to leave Iran and what it means for Jews today. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
I think often about how my parents knew, seemingly innately, when it was time to leave.
Elliott Benjamin, Distinctions, 2024
Speaking Topics
What Elliott talks about
1. Leaving Iran
His family's decision to leave in 1977 and the experiences of Iranian Jews before and after the revolution.
2. Jews and Religious Minorities in Iran Today
Conditions facing Jews and other religious minorities in Iran over the past four decades.
3. Refugee Resettlement
How the Lautenberg program and organizations like HIAS helped Iranian religious minorities find new homes.
4. Building Community in Los Angeles
How Iranian Jews rebuilt their communal life in Southern California.
5. When Is It Time to Leave?
Lessons from family history about safety, belonging, and civic engagement today.
Select Talks
Selected talks and appearances
2025 | Jewish Telegraphic Agency, interview on Iranian Jews and U.S. refugee policy (March; republished by J. and The Jerusalem Post) |
2024 | JIMENA, Distinctions journal essay, When Is It Time to Leave? |
Ongoing | Milken Community High School, Los Angeles, regular speaker on Jews in Iran and the resettlement of Iranian religious minorities |
2013 | UCLA Fowler Museum, Iranian American Jewish Federation and Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation event honoring HIAS and local Jewish nonprofits (January 28) |
2009 | Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, interview on how Iran's post election crisis could affect Jews in Iran |
Earlier | JIMENA program on threatened communities in the Middle East and North Africa |
Earlier | Hebrew Union College conference at UCLA, session The New Transplanted, on rebuilding Iranian Jewish community |
Earlier | UCLA Hillel panel, Bridging the Gap Between Two Worlds |
These are a selection of Elliott’s talks. Elliott has given many more, at schools, campus programs, and Jewish community events in Los Angeles, plus national Jewish news interviews.
Publications and Media
Read, watch, and listen
Article
When Is It Time to Leave?
Personal essay on his family's departure from Iran and Jewish life in America today, Distinctions (JIMENA), 2024. Read the essay
Profile
Elliott Benjamin, Partner
Official professional profile, Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. View profile
Article
Iranian Jews persecuted under refugee ban
News report quoting him as vice president of the Iranian American Jewish Federation, J. The Jewish News of Northern California, 2025. Read the article
Affiliations
Organizations
- Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP (Partner, Real Estate)
- Iranian American Jewish Federation (Vice President, Executive Board)
- HIAS (former board and committee member)
- Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
- World Jewish Relief (Central British Fund)
- JIMENA (Advisory Board, per 2013 letterhead)
Book Elliott
Bring this speaker to your audience
To invite Elliott Benjamin to your school, university, congregation, or organization, use the Book Speaker button above or email info@jimena.org.