Rabbi Perlin's Library

Half of the year, we live in Los Angeles at the bottom of a beautiful hill. It is often 72 and sunny, even in the winter months. When we first started looking for a place to live here, we were amazed that houses were built on cliffs and driveways were so steep that we could never navigate them in the snow. And then, I remembered there is no snow. (Confession: I miss the snow!! When we come back I will be praying for a blizzard.). Southern...Read more...

Thank you to everyone for your outpouring of love and concern. Gary and I are truly grateful, more than we could ever put into words. We are back in Virginia now. Still watching the news and the winds in LA. The police have blocked off our street so Jacob can’t get to the house. The human mind is funny. I worry about the house being destroyed in the same breath that I worry that we evacuated so quickly that I didn’t wash the dishes and...Read more...

If…

This week’s Torah portion begins with a powerful two letter word, whether you read it in the original Hebrew or translate it into English. That word is ‘if.’

If… by Amy R. Perlin

If the life of every human were really equal to the life of the whole world…

If all men were created equal – and then, if all women were created equal, as well…

If I truly loved my neighbor as...Read more...

Adapt, Migrate, or Die

I don’t remember all of my middle school teachers, but I remember Dr. Crouch, our advanced biology teacher.  He was scary, demanding, brilliant, and challenged me.  He wore a white lab coat and had massive amounts of white hair on the top of his head.  He had a booming voice that silenced everyone in the room with his first word.  But, most of all, I remember what he taught me about the...Read more...

Being There

One of my favorite two words of the Torah are found in Exodus 24:12: “The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to ME on the mountain and BE THERE…”  Generations of commentators and rabbis have asked, “Where else would Moses be, if he was on the mountain?”   And the answer is so very clear, especially in our own multi-tasking times.  It is possible to BE THERE physically, but not be there in so many...Read more...

 Yom HaZikaron

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

It is on my calendar and in my heart. The day before Israel Independence Day is always Israel’s Day of Remembrance. Isn’t that the way it should be? Shouldn’t we remember those who sacrifice their lives so that nations can be free?

And Israel’s soldiers did more than that — they gave all of us, every Jew, a return to our homeland — our...Read more...

The Amy in the House

The sun did not shine; It was too wet to pray,

So we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day.

I sat there with Gary; we sat there we two

And I said, “How I wish we had something to do!”

Too wet to go out; Couldn’t go to a mall,

So we sat in the house; We did nothing at all.

So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit!...Read more...

Four Love Stamps Left

I only have four LOVE stamps left and that is a good thing.  We have other stamps and we can always order more.  I believe in “snail mail” and I am doing my part to keep the USPS in business.  I have enough cards and stationery to last for a decade.  It is one of the many things I stockpile, in case there is an international shortage. (Don’t laugh…some of my other stockpiles have...Read more...

Democracy Dies in Darkness

Not a word. I read the entire #Washington Post, cover to cover as I do every morning, and there was not ONE WORD that today is Holocaust Remembrance Day/Yom HaShoah. Yes, there is a pandemic, a failure of presidential leadership in our country, problems with the allocation of funds to small businesses, crazies who are protesting and risking lives, and hunger across America that has no adequate...Read more...

Sunday Post 4/19/20: In Praise of My Colleagues – Clergy First Responders

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

I cry every time I watch a commercial, or television report or special, highlighting the brave men and women who are on the front lines of this crisis. And I keep each and every one in my prayers, every single day. I hear and read the list of all those who are putting themselves in harm’s way, and I am in awe of their...Read more...

Thursday Post 4.16.20: The Season of Counting

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

This is the season of counting for the three major religions.  As Jews, we began the seven weeks of counting to the festival of Shavuot (commemorating when we received the Torah at Sinai) on the second day of Passover.  We count the Omer daily, reminding ourselves that we were once an agricultural people counting a measure of grain, as we...Read more...

Sunday Post 4/12/20: Shomeir Negiah: No Touching

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

My grandchildren are coming today!  We are going to be their big adventure out in these days of pandemic isolation.  They will get in the car in Washington, D.C. and drive to the wilderness of Virginia.  I am sure after a month at home, their parents would love to leave them here, as is often customary with their trips to Virginia, but...Read more...

Our survey says…!

It was wonderful! Jonah led an amazing seder with guests from every part of the country and our lives.   My little Miriam sang all four questions and she isn’t even five yet.  It warms my heart when Jonah says, “And this is a Perlin tradition…”   Kvelling!  I had everything on my desk covered with a tablecloth – the big Jewish bowl and pitcher for handwashing, the seder plate...Read more...

Seder Plate Substitutions

The commitment to post every day means that I have to sort through all the ideas on my my desk blotter. They can wait right now, because we have an urgent need for rabbinic wisdom across the world. The fifth question we are asking now is “What do I do for my seder plate, if I can’t go shopping?” I have the that problem, and maybe it is facing you, too.

Gary was all set to go out this morning to...Read more...

Packing Up the Crystal

I am packing up the crystal. Carefully.  Slowly.

They are a metaphor for life right now:

Fragile. So very fragile.

And filled with anxiety, because I am doing it myself.

Transparent, reflecting and refracting light and time.

Beautiful. Exquisite really.

I stuff each one, wrap the stem, roll it up in paper

And place it in...Read more...

Thursday’s Post 4/2/20: Overwhelmed and Overloaded

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

There was an online class from LA last night that I was really looking forward to taking with Gary on Jews and Plagues.  It was in my calendar.  I had RSVP’d.  It was being given at 6 pm in LA, which would have been 9 pm our time, here on the East coast. We were just so very tired last night that … we forgot.  You...Read more...

Tuesday Post 3/31/20: What Time is It? 

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

With six grandchildren under the age of eight, I have watched my fair share of children’s programming over the past few years.  There are phrases from some of the shows that just stick with you, and probably will long after the show and the child have moved on.  For us, one of those phrases is from the cartoon, Bubble Guppies.  If...Read more...

Sunday Post: How we handle the Grief.

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.  3/29/2020

We may all be susceptible to the contagion of this virus, but we will all process this experience in our own way.  Every brain handles grief differently, and this is definitely a grief episode in our lives.  Grief is a disruption of the fabric of our lives, whose cause is most often out of our control.

For some, the retelling...Read more...

Thursday Post 3/26/20: FOFO

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

I woke up at 4 A.M. today and spent the next few hours debating about going to Giant at 6 A.M., when seniors are permitted to shop early.  I showered.  I was up.  I didn’t want Gary to go out, as you know he is older than I am, and I want him protected.  But, I couldn’t do it.  We have enough eggs for now, and I can’t eat salad...Read more...

Tuesday’s Post 3/24:  Passover Panic No More

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

With all that is going on, last week I bought five pounds of matzah at Giant.  In my mind, I knew that Passover this year was not going to be like Passovers in the past.  And if you are like me, you are worried about how we will keep Passover this year, whatever your observance – from the food we will eat to the seder will have. ...Read more...

Sunday Post (March 22nd, 2020):  Taking Control Where We Can

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

I am posting a bit late today, because we have been cleaning and organizing to get ready to move and because that it is something in my control.   My house is always clean, but as we are cooped up together, we are each doing our part in sorting out our lives.  Every family photo and album is now packed and Marie Condo...Read more...

Friday’s Post (March 20th, 2020): I Never Thought I Would Want to Write a Blessing for Technology

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.

Blessed are You, Adonai my God, Responsible Being for our Universe, Who created minds that dreamed of connecting our world digitally and visionaries who turned those dreams into reality.  In gratitude for the creations that help us overcome our isolation, we stay connected via the vast array of...Read more...

Wednesday message: to the parents of young children:

by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D., 3/18/2020

You are amazing… and super exhausted.
Fearful, and full of love for your children.
Fearful, and cautious for your parents.
Apprehensive about what all this means for your family’s financial well-being.
You never planned on home schooling.
You never imagined this reality.

But, stop for a second and...Read more...

During the Coronavirus Crisis

As we begin a new week, under the most difficult challenges for our world, we face so many new realities.  So, for Monday, I am focusing on ACCENTUATING THE POSITIVES, WHILE VERY AWARE OF THE NEGATIVES.   Rather than seeing my grandchildren in person for Shabbat this week, I have a “book date” on Friday afternoon – which will serve two purposes: giving us quality time and giving their...Read more...

While cooking this week, I watched an episode of the TV show Supergirl.  In it, a Martian father with advancing Alzheimer’s passes on all of his memories and the memories of his people’s origin and history to his adult son in a ceremony before he is about to die.  The son will inherit his father’s cumulative wisdom, lessons learned after living a long life of successes and making mistakes, and his desire to honor those...Read more...

On December 4th 1960, President Eisenhower, and the American people, received the gift of a rare, white tiger named Mohini.  For years, Mohini lived in the Washington Zoo and spent her days pacing back and forth in a 12-by-12 foot cage.  Finally, the zoo decided to build her a larger outdoor park enclosure, so Mohini could run, climb, and explore. But, when she arrived at her new home, she didn’t rush out, eagerly adapting to...Read more...

Adonai, our God, we give thanks for the freedom that is ours, and we pray for all who are persecuted and oppressed in the spirit of this week’s Torah portion, which commands us to embrace the stranger as ourselves.

Uphold also the dreams and hopes of our brothers and sisters in the land of Israel, that she may be true to our Torah portion and the Jewish values we treasure of freedom and justice, equality and peaceful...Read more...

First, the bad news: Jewish birth rates are down worldwide, except for Israel.  Over a million Jews identify as Jewish in America without doing anything Jewish, or supporting any Jewish causes or institutions, and those peripheral, self-identifying Jews have no desire or sense of obligation to continue the Jewish people.  History would indicate that the majority of those Jews and their descendants will be lost to the Jewish people...Read more...

I was so glad that we could go out to visit our grandchildren in Los Angeles before the seders this year. It gave me a chance to read Passover books with my grandson, Micah.  In a matter of days, his excitement about finding the Afikomen and a visit from the prophet Elijah grew and grew.  By the time the first seder came, Micah was so very ready to find the Afikomen and the wonder in his eyes as he and I returned from...Read more...

Bread, Blessing and Birkat

Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.  8/15/14

New Adult Ed/LIFE year begins:  Food for Thought

Parashat Ekev contains the reason we Jews have Birkat HaMazon

“Dt. 8:10 “When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to Adonai, your God, for the good land that God has given you.”

This is the basis for the Birkat Hamazon, the traditional grace after...Read more...

With Passover starting on Monday night, observant Jews everywhere are cleaning our homes, cars, and offices.  I am searching out those elusive crumbs in all of my drawers, wondering how they seem to multiply the minute the kitchen light goes off for the night.  We are commanded to remove leavened foods from our lives for the entire Passover holiday, and all of that begins with our traditional Jewish spring cleaning.  At our...Read more...

As I write this article, summer begins tomorrow.  For many of our members, this means a more relaxed time of year filled with time to enjoy family, friends, and the outdoors (at least on days without Virginia humidity!).  For my Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, it is a time to study Hebrew without the pressures of the school year, and for many in our community, it is a time to be able to get to services without the usual DC...Read more...

For many years, congregations focused all of their attention on educating the children, and recent studies reveal that many did not even do a good job with that.  Adult Jews roam the country scarred by their religious school experiences in childhood, which is unfortunate.  But not so, for all of us at Temple B’nai Shalom.  When the congregation was founded in 1986, we made a conscious decision to have as our congregational...Read more...

79811. That is the next year that Chanukah and Thanksgiving will coincide according to a physicist and mathematician whose bris I officiated at many years ago! So why not celebrate this incredibly rare cosmic event in the most ecumenical, meaningful, and spiritual way possible?  Join in the joy of the season as we continue our annual tradition of sharing the night before Thanksgiving together with our friends from Abiding Presence...Read more...

Costume: I dress as a Bumble bee

Props: Bee signs with phrases

Handout: Each child gets bee stickers for face or hands

I heard, last year, there was a ladybug on your bee-mah for HH days, and frankly, I was a little offended.  Don’t bother repenting for hurting my feelings. I just decided to show up here to let you know that of all the bugs in the world, I’m the only one that matters on Rosh...Read more...

In a recent conversation with a colleague, I learned that a survey of 25 congregations, by the American Jewish Archives, resulted in a startling observation: Most congregations do not teach Reform Judaism or have a systematic way of sharing our historic and extensive heritage.  As I shared the wonderful course in the platforms of Judaism that we teach in our YES (8-9thgrade) program, and the fact that we regularly highlight the...Read more...

In the Hebrew language, there are eleven different words for “change,” other than referring to small coins, and four words for “transition,” two of which are the same as the word for “change.”  One might surmise that our American understanding of “change and transition” is quite different from the Jewish ideas of such concepts.  For most of our history, change occurred by force and often made your circumstances...Read more...

Adult Education Sermon for A Year of Asking Jewish Questions: What’s Yours?
February 17, 2012  – Mishpatim, Exodus 23:20f.

In this week’s Torah portion of Mishpatim we read a very confusing passage.  Mishpatim means “laws,” and the portion begins with almost three chapters of them, from prohibitions of stealing oxen, to seducing virgins, to Exodus 23:19, “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk,”...Read more...

On the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11:  Monuments, Moments, Memories, and Memorials

Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, Temple B’nai Shalom 9/9/11

I spent most of the last month of my three-month sabbatical traveling.  As I looked through my pictures to create my album, I was struck by how many of them included big buildings and how much of my recollection of the places we visited were about the history of those...Read more...

I am a friendly person. I can stand on line at Giant or Safeway and know someone’s life story before the checker even scans my groceries. When my children were very little, they would ask me, “Do you know that person, Mama?” Then they realized that I was always making friends with people—on airplanes, on line, in restaurants. So for as long as I can remember my sons have joked with me when I finish one of my conversations, “Are they...Read more...