Passover has always been one of the most lonely and difficult times to be a rabbi in Virginia.  We keep kosher.  We keep kosher for Passover.  And that entails so much more than we can do here in Virginia.  On Monday, we spent hours in Maryland buying all the foods that are just not available here in Northern Virginia.  One woman looked at our overflowing carts and said, “You must be from out of town!” with a smile.  Yes, we live on a planet...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

Sometimes, I wonder why God ever forgave the Israelites for building the Golden Calf.   Moses goes up to the mountain to get the Torah and, when he doesn’t come back down quickly enough, the people take their gold and their jewelry and build a golden calf, completely forgetting Adonai, the Source of their freedom and good fortune.   They get swept up by their wealth and go speeding along, dancing in a frenzy of mindless excess. 

And then Moses,...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

Shabbat Shalom,

I hope this finds you enjoying the summer-like weather.  What a February this has turned out to be! 

As I sit and study the Torah portion this morning, I am reminded of the fact that in addition to being the source of our values, the Torah also contains many laws and commandments that we are expected to follow.  This week's portion, Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1 - 24:18) follows last week's portion, Yitro, where...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

Time is precious.  In our fast-paced, calendar-demanding world, time is the one commodity that seems to control us, constrain us, and confine us.  At our Selichot service every year before Rosh Hashanah, we read the meditation whose refrain is “I haven’t the time.”  At the end of the reading, the author runs out of time.  In preparing the 2019 Bar Mitzvah list in December, I programmed my life for another year.  Everything I do revolves around...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

Happy Holidays!

Happy Chanukah!

Merry Christmas!

If you have been out and about the past couple of weeks, you have undoubtedly received all of these greetings in one setting or another.  They are simple “social niceties” and all well intentioned -- yet each one has meanings attached.  Do you get a different feeling when the supermarket cashier wishes you ‘Happy Holidays!’ rather than ‘Merry Christmas!?’ ...

Author: Rabbi Laura Rappaport, D.D.

This week’s Torah portion open’s with the words, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth –“et ha-shamayim v’et ha’aretz,” in Hebrew.  Genesis 1 delivers a clear scientific statement of the creation of two physical realms that can be seen with the human eye. We can stand on the ground and we can look at the sky, the clouds, the sun, and the moon the heavens. 

The Hebrew word...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

The people gather in preparation to hear Moses for the last time.  At the end of their desert wanderings, they are about to begin a new stage of life in their own land.  And before they cross over to that land, Moses will die at the edge of the wilderness.  So now, God has requested an assembly: Everyone. The elders, children of all ages, the officers and leaders, all women and men, wood choppers and those who draw the water – anyone associated with the...

Author: Rabbi Laura Rappaport, D.D.

We traveled 35,000 miles, circumnavigating the globe and visiting both the northern and southern hemispheres this summer.  We spent almost 64 hours in the air, covering every time zone.  It was an amazing 40th anniversary trip! And we were able to cross off a number of things on my husband Gary's bucket list.  I don't have one.  Gary planned every moment and adventure.  Truth be told, until I got on the airplane, I really didn't know much about where...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

Before the first 2016 presidential debate, Jimmy Kimmel's team took to Hollywood Boulevard for another episode of what he calls, "Lie Witness News."  For those of you who don’t know, Kimmel, the late night talk show host, sends a person out onto the streets of Hollywood to ask people if they saw or heard about something, often absurd or ridiculous, that may or may not have really happened. 

...

Author: Rabbi Perlin

On September 13th at 12:20 a.m., our fourth grandchild, Shia Wolf Perlin, came into this world.  He came a little early, to fit into your schedule and mine.  I suppose he knew that if he came on his due date, eight days ago this morning, his bris would have been today in Los Angeles, while I would have been here with you, missing a moment I would never have wanted to miss.

Sweet baby Shia, you are our family's Rosh Hashanah baby.  You prove the...

Author: Rabbi Perlin