CLERGY
We invite you to meet our clergy in person! But for now, check them out here…
Matthew S. Cutler, DD
Senior Rabbi
“Rabbi Matt” joined Congregation Gates of Heaven as its spiritual leader July 1, 1995. Over the years, Rabbi Matt has emerged as one of the strongest and most visible clergy leaders in the Capital District. His ecumenical work is well known.
According to Rabbi Cutler, a Rabbi is first and foremost a teacher of Torah, though he believes Jewish education is not limited to the classroom. In his professional experiences, Rabbi Cutler seeks to create many different avenues of informal Jewish education. He serves on the Board and was the Dean of Faculty for the Union of Reform Judaism’s Northeast Camps—Eisner and Crane Lake in the Berkshires. He is believes that religious values are living values and he has advocated such beliefs by being one of the founders of the interfaith group “Schenectady Clergy Against Hate,” a group dedicated to cross religious and political lines to foster healthy dialogue to build a strong community. He also serves as one of the Schenectady County Chaplains as well as former chair of the County’s Ethics Committee and he is the current chair of the Ethics Committee for the Town of Niskayuna. He is currently on the board of the United Way of the Greater Capital Region; he is committed to that organization and in the past, he was a vice chair and now he has been invited back to serve after this terms expired. Rabbi Matt is a member of the Capital District Board of Rabbis and served as President of their Board.
Rabbi Cutler was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City in 1990, where he also obtained his Master of Arts and Hebrew Letters. He graduated with honors from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and Judaic Study. Prior to his arrival in Schenectady, Rabbi Cutler served as Associate Rabbi at Temple Shalom in Newton, Massachusetts.
Rabbi Cutler currently resides in Niskayuna with his wife, Sharon. They have three children, who are grown adults who are living lives that makes Rabbi Matt kvell: Benjamin, Micah and Julia. When he is not at the synagogue, he often can be found in the gym at our Schenectady JCC, skiing, or standing in a river fly fishing.
Eleanor B. Pearlman,
LCSW, MA
Adjunct Rabbi Emeritus
Rabbi Pearlman began her affiliation with Congregation Gates of Heaven as a rabbinic intern in 2005 in conjunction with her
studies at The Academy for Jewish Religion in Riverdale, NY.
Rabbi Pearlman concurrently earned a Bachelor of Arts in the Teaching of Chemistry from Boston University and a Bachelor of Jewish Education from Hebrew College in Boston. She has Masters degrees in Contemporary Jewish Studies from Brandeis University and Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Rabbi Pearlman has been a therapist for approximately twenty five years. She now focuses her work on the elders of our
congregational community.
Rabbi Pearlman lives in Niskayuna with her husband Dr. WilliamPearlman, and has three children, Rachel, Aaron, and Shira and three grandchildren.
Bernard H. Bloom, DD
Rabbi Emeritus
Stefano Iacono
Student Cantor
