Former Am David rabbi founds new congregation

John Howell
Posted 7/16/15

By JOHN HOWELL

A temple founded less than a month ago, which conducts services in a Lutheran church and is jointly planning a program with Episcopal and Roman Catholic parishes, is already showing …

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Former Am David rabbi founds new congregation

Posted

By JOHN HOWELL

A temple founded less than a month ago, which conducts services in a Lutheran church and is jointly planning a program with Episcopal and Roman Catholic parishes, is already showing promise with 100 members.

While the temple, West Bay Community Jewish Center, is new to the area, its rabbi is no stranger.

“This plan just didn’t come up overnight,” Rabbi Richard E. Perlman said in an interview last week.

Perlman was appointed cantor, spiritual leader and director of education at Temple Am David on Gardiner Street in Warwick on Dec. 1, 2000. It is a position he held until recently, when, because of financial constraints, he left to form the center.

His decision to leave did not come easily. Earlier this year, the board of Temple Am David unanimously voted to change the name of the synagogue to “Congregation Am David,” and to sell the building. Sweeney Real Estate holds the listing at $1 million.

The cost of maintaining the property had become a burden, and as members left because they could no longer afford the expense it became increasingly difficult on those that remained. Part of those costs was Perlman’s salary.

“The overhead of that building was not sustainable,” Perlman said. “I had 15 amazing years there. I love them and always will, but it just couldn’t continue.”

Temple Am David was formed from the merger of Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth David in the 1980s. The original facility was expanded, and repairs and upgrades have been continuous.

“It made it impossible to make a living,” he said. “The facts of life are the facts of life. We all have to make a living.”

But what is evolving may not only make it financially affordable for Jews to practice their faith and unite in a community, but for a new ecumenical movement in Warwick.

Perlman has adopted a membership model based on services rather than a sharing of the overall cost of operations. He calls it “a la carte,” and it works similar to a menu.

“How often are you going to get married?” he asks.

His own question prompts a laugh from Paul Finstein, president of the center’s board, who is part of the interview. There’s agreement that a funeral might have been a better example.

Conventionally, Perlman explains, as a temple member, marriages and other life events involving the rabbi are part of the package. At the center, those events are treated as additions and a charge is applied. Members can participate at financial levels they can afford.

At this time, the center is operating from Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence on Greenwich Avenue. Perlman said the center is paying rent, not because it is demanded but rather because he believes that is appropriate. Daily prayers are conducted at Tamarisk, and there is a breakfast in the facility’s café. A number of facility residents participate, as well as those who followed Perlman from Congregation Am David.

Perlman was especially heartened by the registration of more than 110 for a Friday evening barbeque – the cooking was accomplished before sundown, as is the Jewish practice – as many of those attending were former members of Am David who he had not seen for years. These are people he believes left because they found it increasingly difficult to underwrite the cost of the temple.

The concept of turning to the community and using community assets is not new.

When Am David listed the temple for sale, the board explored options to relocate the Shabbat, weekday, and larger services, including High Holiday services and social events, as well as the Louis and Goldie Chester Religious School, to different venues around the area. The school may be located in Cranston, says Finstein, but that wasn’t finalized as of last week.

That search has resulted in a number of affiliations and cooperative relationships.

Saturday Shabbat service is held at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, not all that far on Warwick Avenue from Am David. Perlman is in awe of the receptiveness of Pastor Dennis Kohl and the church congregation. Crosses and Christian symbols are removed from the sanctuary. Remarkably, making it ideal for the center, the sanctuary faces east, as is the case with Jewish temples.

Perlman has also connected with the Rev. Susan Wrathall, pastor of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, and Father Andrew Messina, pastor of St. Timothy’s Church, in planning “People of Faith United for Justice and Peace!,” which will hold its first meeting Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s. The ecumenical group will lead off the meeting with communal prayer followed by a discussion of discrimination in America.

On Sept. 3, a “lunch and learn” will be held at Pilgrim Lutheran.

“This wonderful opportunity is open to the public and will focus on the Jewish Bible ‘Parshat Hashavua’ (the weekly Torah Portion),” reads the center bulletin.

The deli kosher lunch meeting starts at noon and ends by 1 p.m. The cost is $8.

“We all have commonality,” Perlman says, observing that the first five books of Moses in the Old Testament also part of the Jewish scriptures.

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  • longtimewarwickite

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