Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman
Rabbi Ilana is thrilled to have joined the BHSS community. She spent the last 8 years serving Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to that, she was the Assistant Rabbi of Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, New York. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and went on to study Hebrew at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel. She was ordained in 2007 from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rabbi Ilana is a third-generation rabbi. Her grandfather Rabbi Sylvan Schwartzman (z”l) was at the forefront of Reform Jewish education and her father Rabbi Joel Schwartzman has served as an Air Force chaplain and a congregational rabbi.
Rabbi Ilana has lived in places far and wide, including Germany, Greece, Israel and many states within the U.S. She, her husband Art, and daughter are happy to be setting down roots in the BHSS community.
Rabbi Ilana views the contemporary synagogue as a home for prayer, spirituality, social action, study, leadership and engagement and is devoted to these pursuits in her rabbinate. In addition to a love for Judaism and Jewish texts, she has a great love for people and their stories. Her joy lies in the interplay between intellectual Judaism and personal relationships. She also believes that music is a powerful vehicle through which we can connect to each other and God.
Email Rabbi Schwartzman: [email protected]
Read Rabbi Ilana’s latest article in Temple Topics here.
View Rabbi Ilana’s High Holiday Sermons for 5782 by clicking on the titles: Erev Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah Morning Kol Nidre – Erev Yom Kippur Yom Kippur Morning
Student Cantor Molly May
Student Cantor Molly May is excited to be joining Beth Haverim Shir Shalom for Yamim Nora’im (The High Holidays) 5783. Molly previously served as the Cantorial Soloist and Choir Director at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Additionally, she taught Hebrew and music at Pittsburgh’s Joint Jewish Education Program, a pluralistic religious school program.
Molly directed the Pittsburgh chapter of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir for six years and plans to initiate a chapter in the Raleigh-Durham area, where she currently lives. She served as principal double bass for the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. When Molly lived in New Jersey from 2002-2009, she taught orchestra and band, and she sang with the Hickory Tree Chorus, competing in Sweet Adelines Region 15 Quartet and Chorus contests. Molly holds a B. Mus. in Music Education from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; she holds an M. Mus. in Music Education from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She is a cantorial student at the Academy for Jewish Religion and has a husband and three children, aged 15, 13, and 11.