Rabbi Amy R. Perlin serves on the Rabbinic Cabinet at Avodah.
Rabbi Perlin served as Senior Rabbi of Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station, Virginia for 33 years before she retired in 2019. Rabbi Perlin has an A.B. degree in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University, Class of ’78 (Summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), and an M.A.H.L. (Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature) 1980 and ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in NY, 1982. She received her Doctor of Divinity degree from HUC in May of 2007. Rabbi Perlin is the first woman rabbi in America to start a congregation on her own. Rabbi Perlin received the Jewish Women International’s 2012 Women To Watch award. In February of 2013, she was inducted onto the Board of Governors of HUC’s Jewish Institute of Religion, and in 2013 was named by The Forward newspaper as one of “America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis.” Above all, Rabbi Perlin is a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She has been happily married to her husband Gary for 40 years. In her spare time Rabbi Perlin is an avid reader of mysteries, enjoys cooking and entertaining, has a passion for home design and collecting vintage Art Deco, loves science and space exploration, and frequently travels the world, traveling 35,000 miles around the globe in both hemispheres in one summer.