Tamarisk holds Israeli flag dedication

Sons honor Cantor Ivan E. Perlman and Mrs. Muriel J. Perlman

Last December, Rabbi Richard E. Perlman was conducting the Mincha service with the children from Temple Am David in the community room of The Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk RI Assisted Living Residence when they made an observation. Usually, the children light the Hanukkah candles and then sing the national anthem and the Hatikvah. As they were preparing to sing the Israeli anthem, one of the kids yelled out, where is the Israeli flag? Just as the children were dismayed that a Jewish living facility didn’t have an Israeli flag, so was Melvin Kahn, a Tamarisk resident who happened to be in the room.

Last summer, Kahn was responsible for dedicating and providing the American flag and the state flag of Rhode Island to Tamarisk. He and Rabbi Perlman’s mother, Muriel Perlman, also a resident at the facility, decided that something had to be done. The rabbi explained that his mother called him  and announced that he, along with his brothers – Rabbi Eli B. Perlman, Cantor Emanuel C. Perlman and Cantor Josh C. Perlman – would be dedicating a flag. The rabbi jokes, “Honor your parents is one of the Ten Commandments, right?” He says that he and his brothers were excited about the opportunity and made it happen on Sunday, March 23.

Thanks to the generous donation of the Perlman family, the flag was dedicated during a ceremony honoring Rabbi Perlman’s parents. Kahn presided over the festivities.

Among the people present at the dedication were children from Temple Am David’s religious school and singers from Temple Sinai’s Shireinu chorus – they did a presentation earlier and decided to stay to sing Hatikvah at the dedication. Rabbi Perlman sums up, “It was a wonderful community opportunity.”

Because the rabbi’s father, Cantor Ivan E. Perlman, served in the Marine Corps during WWII, the ceremony included the Marine Corps Hymn and the presentation of the colors by the Color Guard. The rabbi shares that his father had been active in veterans’ affairs throughout the country. A Life Member of the Marine Corps League, the Jewish War Veterans and the Knights of Pythias, Ivan Perlman was the first cantor to serve as the National Chaplain of the Jewish War Veterans. Cantor Emeritus at Temple Emanu-El, he is proud of his four sons, all of whom are cantors as well.

Rabbi Perlman, member of the Oversight Committee of Tamarisk, offered some remarks and accepted the flag on behalf of the facility. At the flag presentation, the rabbi especially enjoyed seeing his brother Eli, also a veteran like their father, being accompanied by Ari, the youngest grandson. Afterward, they sang Hatikvah and the prayer for the State of Israel. The rabbi says, “I think Tamarisk is a much more beautiful place now that it has its homeland flag.” His mother was so happy with the proceedings that she was beaming. The rabbi shares, “She was so proud to know that the Perlman family has put a permanent mark in the community room and in the lives of the future generations at Tamarisk, who will now be able to see the Israeli flag as they’re singing.”

IRINA MISSIURO is a writer and editorial consultant for The Jewish Voice.