David Avraham Voluck

David Avraham Voluck is an American judge, attorney, and author known for his specialization in federal Indian law and his long-standing service as a tribal court judge in Alaska. He is recognized for his work in developing tribal justice systems, particularly within the Tlingit and Haida communities, and for co-authoring the definitive legal treatise Alaska Natives and American Laws. He has credited the Native tribes with helping him become a more observant Jew. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor's degree with a focus on the sociology of religion. where he primarily serves members of the Tlingit and Haida nations. Voluck is notable as the state's only non-Native tribal judge. Voluck is also a faculty member for the National Judicial College's National Tribal Judicial Center and the National Tribal Trial College, where he lectures on tribal law, tribal courts, and native culture. In 2014, Voluck was honored with the Alaska Bar Association's Judge Nora Guinn Award. The award recognized his "extraordinary and sustained efforts to assist Alaska's rural residents, especially its Native population, in overcoming language and cultural barriers to obtaining justice." He was the first tribal judge to receive this award.

Personal life and religious views Voluck is an Orthodox Jew, affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. His work with Alaskan Natives is cited as having deepened his interest in his own religious heritage, leading him to take a two-year sabbatical from legal practice to study Talmudic and Jewish legal studies at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey. The Tlingit people of Sitka bestowed upon him a tribal name, Aan S'aati, which translates to "Caretaker for the Land". Voluck has noted similarities between traditional Alaskan Native spiritual values and Judaism, particularly concerning the reverence for the Creator as a unifying force present in all creation and the importance of ecological stewardship. The tribal court even has an "aboriginal Seder plate", taking elements from both cultures to make the room more comfortable.