The Young Israel of Teaneck announced that Shabbos Parshat Bo, February 3-4, noted lecturer Rabbi Dr. Gil Perl will join the shul as a Scholar-in-Residence as part of the Dr. Bertram J., z”l, and Ann Newman Adult Education Program.
Rabbi Dr. Perl will speak multiple times over the course of Shabbos. Friday night at 8:15, he will speak in the main sanctuary. His topic will be God Is Not Dead: Orthodox Responses to New Atheism. Shabbos morning he will deliver the drasha during the 9 o’clock minyan. His topic then will be Modern Orthodoxy and the American Dream. There will be a pre-mincha shiur at 3:45 p.m. in the main sanctuary. The topic will be Egalitarianism, Hedgehogs and the Future of Modern Orthodoxy. Finally, following 4:45 sincha, during Shalosh Seudot in the social hall, Rabbi Dr. Perl will speak about Mitzvot and Morality: When Torah and Ethics Collide.
“Despite having grown up in Bergenfield, and despite having parents who now live in Teaneck, this will be my first time spending Shabbos in the Young Israel of Teaneck and I’m very much looking forward to getting to know the people and the community,” Rabbi Dr. Perl told The Jewish Link. “My objective in weekends such as these is less to convey information and more to spur conversation. If I can get people thinking deeply about where we are as a community, how we got here and where we ought to go next—that, to me, is success.”
“Rabbi Dr. Perl is a thoughtful and inspiring educator who challenges his listeners to confront the issues that matter to the present and future of Modern Orthodoxy,” said Rabbi Binyamin Krohn, rabbi of the Young Israel of Teaneck. “I have personally had the privilege of learning from Rabbi Dr. Perl, and I look forward to introducing him to our community.”
Rabbi Dr. Perl is the Head of School at Kohelet Yeshiva in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, and the Chief Academic Oficer of the Kohelet Foundation. An award-winning teacher, Rabbi Dr. Perl twice received Harvard’s Certifcate of Distinction in Teaching and was also named Yeshiva University’s Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year. Recently, Rabbi Perl led the educational design team that conceived of and launched Kohelet Yeshiva Lab School, a pedagogically progressive Modern Orthodox Elementary and Middle School aimed at advancing the field of Jewish education. He is also the author of numerous articles and a widely read blog, as well as an intellectual biography of the Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin.
Rabbi Dr. Perl earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard and his Semicha from Yeshiva University. He resides with his wife, Melissa, and their four children in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
The Young Israel of Teaneck is located at 868 Perrry Lane in Teaneck. The entire community is invited to attend any of the talks over Shabbos. For more information email [email protected].
By Sara Kosowsky Gross
