Rabbi Jay Perlman
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Rabbi Jay Perlman is a Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom. Since his arrival in Needham in the summer of 2003, Rabbi Perlman has been dedicated to nurturing a warm, vibrant, spiritually meaningful community. He is proud to share in this sacred service with many outstanding clergy, professional, and lay leaders.
Rabbi Perlman is active in both the Needham and the Greater Boston Jewish community. He is an active member of the Needham Clergy Association, including having recently served as president. He currently serves on the New England Regional Board of the Anti-Defamation League. He frequently dedicates two weeks during summer to serve on the faculty at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Camp Eisner. Rabbi Perlman has served as a rabbinic mentor for both the Hebrew College Rabbinic Program and the rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He is a regular teacher for the URJ’s “Taste of Judaism” and “Introduction to Judaism” programs and is a member of the Needham Coalition for Suicide Prevention.
Before coming to the Boston area, Rabbi Perlman served at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis, MO. While there, he was awarded UJA Federation’s Rabbinic Award for outstanding community leadership. Rabbi Perlman was active in the development of innovative worship experiences, creative youth programming, and in working with the St. Louis Jewish deaf community. In addition, Rabbi Perlman was the founding Rabbinic Director of the Fleischer Jewish Healing Center of St. Louis.
Rabbi Perlman was ordained from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1996. While at HUC, he was the recipient of a number of academic awards, including his selection as a Steinhardt Scholar for his work in informal education.
Rabbi Perlman is originally from the Boston area. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Brandeis University, where he received his B.A. in both History and Near East and Judaic Studies. Rabbi Perlman has participated in numerous study opportunities in Israel, including programs at the Hartman Institute, the Conservative Yeshiva, the Pardes Institute, Hebrew University, and through the World Zionist Organization.
Rabbi Perlman has a passion for teaching, learning, building bridges, and sharing the beauty of our Jewish tradition. He joyfully shares his life with his wife, Emily, and their children Liana and Jonah.
K-12 Learning At Temple Beth Shalom
Hebrew Learning
Hebrew exposure is an integrated part of our K-12 Learning Programs. Beginning in grades K through 2, our educators lead their mifgashim with infused Jewish Life Vocabulary. In Mayim and Mayim Tamid, we use many Hebrew words in our schedule, including T’filah (prayer service) and Kibbud/Hafsaka (snack/recess). Throughout the year, educators integrate holiday names and words, as well as curriculum-specific words, such as words for God in kindergarten and Torah-related words in second grade.
3rd Graders in Mayim and Mayim Tamid sessions include a dedicated Hebrew time within their schedule, where children are introduced to basic modern Hebrew vocabulary, such as short exchanges, classroom words, food items, and nature words. This play-based introduction supports the understanding of Hebrew as both a traditional and modern language, and continues to develop understanding of Hebrew language sounds in preparation for the coming years.
In 4th grade, Hebrew moves outside the Mayim/Mayim Tamid section of the day to a small-group Hebrew session of no more than 6 children. In these sessions, children learn Hebrew letters and vowels and build up their fluency with decoding Hebrew words, including many Jewish life vocabulary words they already know from earlier exposure. Toward the end of the year, children begin learning short prayers that they know through T’filah, such as the Sh’ma.
