Pearl of Wisdom (Rabbi Perlin’s Remarks on accepting the JWI’s Jewish Women To Watch Award on December 3, 2012)
A special note from Rabbi Perlin:
Last month, surrounded by almost 90 friends and members of TBS out of a gathering of 650 people, I was honored to receive the JWI Woman to Watch award. I wanted to begin this New Year of 2013 sharing with all of you, especially newer members who do not know me as well, my words from that day. Happy New Year! Rabbi Perlin
Pearl of Wisdom: Rabbi Perlin’s Remarks
Fifty years ago, I walked up the stairs of my synagogue’s religious school and entered Mrs. Tilles’s classroom. Something happened to me that day that changed the course of my life forever. My love for God, Torah, and Israel were all born when my family joined that synagogue. More than anything else in my childhood, the synagogue saved me, inspired me, brought out the best in me, and gave my life meaning and purpose. I still have the baby Torah I hugged the night of my Consecration, celebrating my entry into the world of Jewish education. My Bat Mitzvah certificate sits framed on a shelf in my office today, even though my Bat Mitzvah took place on a Friday night without the Torah. I remember learning how to roll the Torah in secret, because girls weren’t allowed to participate in that sacred task. To this day, something magical takes place every time I touch a Torah, roll a Torah, and study Torah.
Thirty years ago, I was ordained as a rabbi, because I wanted the synagogue and the Torah to be the center of my life’s work. Every day, I honor Mrs. Tilles, and all of my teachers, as I stand in my classroom sharing Torah and Jewish values. Our tradition transports me to the Jewish past, enriches every day of my personal present, and daily inspires my dedication to vision the Jewish future. I love placing baby Torahs in the hands of our newest students, and the real Torah in the arms of B’nai Mitzvah young and old, and in the arms of those who choose to embrace Judaism.
For me, the synagogue is so much more than a building with a bimah. The synagogue is a magical place where Torahs are hugged, stories shared, lives matter, and people are transformed, empowered, and inspired to embrace the living Judaism they seek. And the syngagogue can and should be the place to embrace interfaith families who choose the Jewish path. In the synagogue, in our synagogue that we built together, I name babies, hold crying congregants in my arms, tell sacred stories of our tradition and of those who have died, and share our magnificent tradition in prayer and song, word and deed. Together, with my wonderful congregants, we create a holy place devoted to lifelong learning, to creating a caring community, and to repairing our world, one mitzvah at a time. My precious new grandson will inherit the Judaism I have dedicated my life to preserving and sharing.
My Pearl only becomes a necklace when it joins with yours – Join me in the blessing of belonging, building, and sustaining all that is precious and “Jewish” in our lives.