Gainesville Rabbi Encourages Education Through Jewish Lens

See Original Article for Lifestyle

After a brief visit to Gainesville three years ago for a Menorah lighting, Rabbi Shmuel “Shmuly” Perlstein and his wife decided to make it their home. It wasn’t a decision based only on a fondness for the community, but also because there was an overwhelming response to having a Jewish celebration in the immediate area.

Rabbi Perlstein is part of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. Chabad places an emphasis on building a relationship with G-d (in the Jewish religion, the ‘o’ is typically omitted out of respect) through education and, while the movement is actually more than 250 years old, the religious organization was formed in the 1940s as a way to bring a message of love and community to Jews following World War II.

Rabbi Perlstein, born the seventh of eight children, grew up in the Chabad community in Chicago. His parents were both educators and most of his siblings are following in their footsteps, as is Rabbi Perlstein.

Photo by: Kara Thorpe

“I was raised that you teach what you know,” said Rabbi Perlstein, “If all you know is Aleph, you teach Aleph.”

While Chabad centers, and other Jewish communities, have been located mostly in and around Fairfax County, Perlstein has seen an immediate interest in the events and activities he’s been offering through his center, Chabad of Greater Gainesville and Manassas.

“Most Jews’ religious education stopped after Sunday school as a child,” he said, “but that’s just the tip of Jewish education.”

Rabbi Perlstein is passionate about bringing opportunities of Jewish education and community to places where it’s been lacking; and Gainesville was a perfect fit.

“Personally, it means so much to see the impact it has on the community,” said Rabbi Perlstein. “Our goal is to help individual Jews connect to G-d and their community, as each is capable.”

In addition to the satisfaction his job brings him from a religious standpoint, Rabbi Perlstein noted that he also enjoys the challenges it presents and likened it to being an entrepreneur.

“As a Rabbi, you get to be everything: a counselor, a graphic designer at times, even an accountant.”

There are Chabad Lubavitch centers all over the United States, but each one is operated and funded separately. Rabbi Perlstein’s Gainesville center was started with seed money and his goal is for it to become self-sufficient as soon as possible.


Photo by: Kara Thorpe

“We will be increasing activities and services as we see interest and need grow, ” he explained. Such gradual growth is important to him because he doesn’t want the center to become a financial burden to the community.

He is encouraged by the level of interest in the center already, noting that it has reached approximately 200 families in the immediate area.

While the Chabad of Greater Gainesville and Manassas does not have its own brick and mortar location, it has been fortunate enough to be able to use the former Virginia Oaks Golf Club for many of its activities. This past October the organization began monthly Shabbat services in addition to its 6-week Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) course Wrestling with Faith.

Rabbi Perlstein, while realizing that the majority of people who take the JLI courses are Jews, believes that the lessons taught in the “unique, high-caliber, engaging and informative adult classes” can apply to anyone wanting a greater relationship with G-d or understanding of religion.

The next course, which begins the first week in February, is called Crime and Consequence. Also a 6-week class, Crime and Consequence is a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Accredited course and discusses the current status of the American legal system and the need for reform.

Photo by: Kara Thorpe

“If you lock your door at night,” began Rabbi Perlstein, “then this is something that could be of interest to you.”

While the lessons from these courses are universal, said Rabbi Perlstein, they are addressed through a Jewish lens.

Although the Chabad of Greater Gainesville and Manassas is less than two years old, Rabbi Perlstein is encouraged by the number of activities and participants the center has enjoyed thus far. His personal goal has always been to provide awareness, education and an engaged gathering place for Jews, and seeing the center become a reality is bringing him much fulfillment and hope for continued growth.


Chabad of Greater Gainesville and Manassas

Get in touch: 571.445.0342 / Rabbi@ChabadGainesville.com
Learn more: ChabadGainesville.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Board Retreat Cheat Sheet

Image
Board retreats are a fantastic way to create meaningful engagement between staff and board, board member to board member and to solidify the commitment your board has to your nonprofit organization. Unfortunately, sometimes after a retreat, board members go back to status quo and that’s not ideal. Typically, a board retreat is put together with the hopes that board members will be re-energized, re-connected and renewed in their zeal to help lift an organization to a higher level of success. Here's a list of things I’ve found to be helpful in creating a retreat that will have a positive, lasting impact on your organization and the people you count on for its success: Decide what challenges you want to work through at the retreat and what outcomes/goals/deliverables you’ll be working toward. Make it a full-day or 2-day retreat. Eight solid hours if it’s only one day, six hours each day for 2-days. The best times of year for 2-day retreats to get the highest level of attendance (appr
Read more

Creating Opportunities

Image
I often hear from nonprofit board members that they got involved in an organization to make a difference, but that once they joined, they feel useless – no one calls on them to truly be involved. If you read the Board Engagement ~ Conversation Checklist blog post then you know that one of my suggestions was to sit down and have a chat with each of your board members. Whether you’re the organization’s Executive Director or the Board President, it would be good for you to know what motivates each individual who’s engaged in your board. Even better if you can determine their passions and hobbies. And employ them. This post is meant to help you take those one-on-ones one step further. For many people, volunteering is high on their priority list. However, not everyone wants to give their time to a nonprofit doing the same things they do in their job/career/profession. So, while you might be thrilled to have a lawyer, accountant, marketing person, etc. on your board if directors, th
Read more

STOP FUNDRAISING FOR YOUR FUNDRAISERS

Image
And start funding planning for your programs, your overhead, your growth. When I was the Executive Director of a small nonprofit, I can remember feeling like I spent all of my time either fundraising through special events or running the special events. We needed the event to add money to our bank account to keep us afloat until the next special event. Essentially, each event was paying for the overhead and event expenses. It was a vicious (and exhausting) cycle. I’ve been working on two basic things with my clients recently: Proving your value by showing the impact your organization has on its community Raising the funds you need to sustain and grow your nonprofit in a way that allows you to focus on your mission and your programs. By fundraising through events, nonprofits are rarely introducing people to their organization, their mission, their impact and importance. It’s the equivalent of a retail shop having a sale or hosting a pop-up. You may get a bunch of people excite
Read more