[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2105-S2106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   REMEMBERING CANTOR IVAN E. PERLMAN

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments 
to remember and honor the late Ivan E. Perlman, who served as the 
president of the Cantors Assembly of America from 1983 to 1985. Cantor 
Perlman was devoted to his faith, his family, his community, and his 
country. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and 
received the Bronze Star for his heroism at Iwo Jima. He stood next to 
Lt. Roland B. Gittelsohn, the Marine Corps' first Jewish chaplain, at 
the dedication of the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima in March 
1945. He chanted a version of ``El Malei Rachamim,'' which is only sung 
for fallen U.S. soldiers. The division chaplain had asked Chaplain 
Gittelsohn to deliver the sermon at a joint service for all those who 
were killed in the epic battle, but some Catholic and Protestant 
chaplains objected, so three separate services were held. But three of 
the Protestant chaplains boycotted their own service to join Chaplain 
Gittelsohn. They sent copies of his sermon, ``The Purest Democracy'', 
extolling the cause of democracy and freedom and equality to the entire 
regiment. It was widely circulated, appearing in newspapers and 
magazines nationwide, and was read on the radio and into the 
Congressional Record.
  After the war ended, Cantor Perlman, who was born in Flushing, NY, 
married Muriel Herman in 1947 and completed his cantorial studies at 
the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1950. Cantor Perlman served 
congregations in Lyndhurst and Fairlawn, NJ; Tulsa, OK; Des Moines, IA; 
Providence, RI; Stockholm, Sweden; and Sarasota, Boca Raton, and 
Tamarac, FL. Along the way, he and his wife had four sons: Eli, Emanuel 
``Manny'', Richard ``Rick'', and Josh. He trained all four of his sons 
in the cantorial arts, and they have carried on the family tradition is 
an exemplary way.
  Cantor Perlman was cantor emeritus at Temple Emanu-El in Providence, 
RI, where he served for 23 years. After he retired from Temple Emanu-
El, at the age of 76, Cantor Perlman became the cantor at Temple Beth 
Kodesh in Boynton Beach, FL. Two years later, he was elected the 
congregation's Ritual Leader. Cantor Perlman conducted his last service 
there in 2005 and then he and his wife returned to Rhode Island, where 
he was a founder of the Friends of the Rhode Island School for the 
Deaf. Cantor Perlman was a life member of the Marine Corps League, the 
Jewish War Veterans, JWV, and the Knights of Pythias. He served as the 
JWV post commander in New York City, and the department chaplain in 
Iowa, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Florida. He was the JWV's first 
national cantor.
  I mentioned that all four of Ivan Perlman's sons also became cantors.

[[Page S2106]]

Manny Perlman is the cantor at Chizuk Amuno in Baltimore. He and his 
brother Eli--the religious leader of Congregation Beit Shalom in 
Monroe, NJ--participated in the October 24, 2011 dedication of the 
memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to the 14 Jewish military 
chaplains killed in action in World War II, the Korean war, and the 
Vietnam war. The memorial stands near separate monuments honoring 
fallen Protestant and Catholic chaplains that have been on Chaplains 
Hill since 1981 and 1989, respectively. Manny and Eli, like their 
father before them at Iwo Jima 66 years earlier, sang the ``El Malei 
Rachamim'' memorial prayer. Cantor Eli Perlman rose to the rank of 
captain in the Army's Special Forces during the Vietnam War era. He 
served in 1967 with CPT Morton Harold Singer, who was killed in a plane 
crash in 1968 on his way to lead Hanukkah festivities for American 
servicemen and women. Captain Singer's name is one of the 14 listed on 
the memorial.
  I would ask my Senate colleagues to join me in commemorating the 
wonderful life and legacy of Cantor Ivan Perlman and expressing our 
deepest condolences to his beloved wife Muriel; his son Rabbi Eli 
Perlman and his wife Lynne of East Brunswick, NJ; his son Cantor 
Emanuel Perlman and his wife Janice of Baltimore, MD; his son Rabbi 
Richard Perlman and his wife Kit of Coventry, RI; his son Cantor Josh 
Perlman and his wife Sherri of Germantown, MD; his sister Annette 
Ziegelstein of Baltimore, MD; his 13 grandchildren, 7 great-
grandchildren; and all the other family and friends of this 
extraordinary man.

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