Rabbi Carl M. Perkins has been the spiritual leader of Temple Aliyah since 1991. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Rabbi Perkins earned an A.B., summa cum laude, at Haverford College. Before pursuing the rabbinate, he earned his J.D., cum laude, at Harvard Law School, and practiced law for several years in Boston. Rabbi Perkins was awarded a Wexner Fellowship to pursue rabbinical studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, where he was ordained and awarded a master’s degree in Talmud and Rabbinics.

Rabbi Perkins’ academic and professional interests include Talmud and Midrash, Jewish education, and keruv (outreach to interfaith families). He has taught and lectured widely in the Boston area and has published articles in Conservative Judaism, Judaism, The American Rabbi, and Sh’ma. Several of his sermons have appeared in Living Words, a collection of High Holiday sermons published by Sh’ma. He has served on: the Rabbinical Assembly/United Synagogue Commission on Intermarriage; the strategic planning committees of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies and The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston; and the Boards of Trustees of the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center. He is a Past President of the Needham Clergy Association and is currently Vice President of the New England Rabbinical Assembly.

Rabbi Perkins is the author of the recently published revised edition of Embracing Judaism, originally written by his late father-in-law, Rabbi Simcha Kling. (Copies may be ordered from Amazon.com). Rabbi Perkins is married to Elana Kling Perkins; they are the parents of Leora and Jeremy.

Rabbi Perkins is the 2003 recipient of the Rabbinic Award from the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. He received the award at a special ceremony of the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities in Jerusalem.

in 2004, Rabbi Perkins was selected to be a participant in a three year program of study at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Center for Rabbinic Enrichment in Jerusalem.  Twice a year through 2007, he will attend seminars there with the other 25 participants from across North America.  He is also an Adjunct Instructor in Rabbinics at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School; last year, he taught a second-year course on the Laws of Shabbat and this year will be teaching a third-year practical rabbinics course on hilchot aveilut (Jewish Laws and Traditions of Mourning).

Some of Rabbi Perkins’s sermons have received national recognition. The one he gave on the shabbat following the September 11 attacks was selected for inclusion on the “Torah From Terror” web site. Some sermons have been published in several editions of Living Words, annual compendia of the best sermons from the previous year, published by the editors of Sh’ma Magazine and JFL Books; among these is “Americans or Jews?” (Rosh Hashanah 2000).

To read many of the sermons by Rabbi Carl M. Perkins, click here.

To read the report that Rabbi Carl M. Perkins delivered at the 2001 annual meeting of the congregation on May 20, 2001, Click Here (you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this file, if you don't have it Click here to get it.)

To contact Rabbi Perkins, please call the synagogue office (781-444-8522) or send an e-mail message to: rabbiperkins@templealiyah.com